The Helpfull Effect of B3 Vitamin on Chronic, Progressive Multiple Sclerosis

A form of vitamin V3 called nicotinamide adenine dinucleotine (NAD) is considered by researchers to be a potential way to prevent severe long term disabilities.

The majority of treatments for MS are designed to treat the relapsing – remitted form, but the severe side effects make them impossible to use for some patients that eventually enter a chronic progressive phase.

By means of a mouse model, the scientists at the Neurobiology Program at Children's Hospital Boston proved the efficiency of NAD against the nerve damage produced in the chronic progressive phase.

MS represents a disease of the nervous system that implies the damage of the axons through inflammation and loss of their protecting substance, myelin. As a consequence, the nerves are no longer able to function as message deliverers to the brain and from it. The treatments available nowadays for this purpose are focusing on myelin restore and on the battle against inflammation but they can stop long term damage of the nerve fibers.

Tests performed by Shinjiro Kaneko proved that in mice NAD prevents the degeneration of the axons, which is crucial. An obvious delay of disability occurred in the mice that were administered a daily dose of NAD injection.

Mice that have been administered the higher dose had, as it was expected, the score of 1-2 and the control mice had the scores 3-4 in which 1 mean mild tail weakness, 4 – paralysis involving limbs and 5 – death because of the disease.

The lowest NAD levels were found in the mice with the greatest neurological deficits and the highest – in those with the mildest. Higher the level was, better did the mice answer to the treatment.

The most spectacular discovery was the efficiency of nicotinamide even in case of a ten days treatment delay, which increases hope for a treatment that may be able to handle the later stages of MS. Dr. Kaneko says that “the earlier therapy was started, the better the effect, but we hope nicotinamide can help patients who are already in chronic stages.”

Other experiments show that the method used by nicotinamide is to increase the levels of NAD in the spinal cord. The decrease of NAD levels is produced and the fibers are damaged and degenerated. NAD may also prevent this degeneration.

Inside the organism, NAD's role is to break down carbohydrates and to obtain energy out of the process. The chemical derivative has the capacity to readily cross the barrier between blood and the brain, it is not expensive and it is easy to find in each drugstore. Like vitamin B3 that belongs to the same class of substances, it promises a lot. Vitamin B3 successfully treats pellagra, high cholesterol, etc. further tests will be needed to figure the potential side effects of NAD on humans.

Kaneko expressed his optimism: “we hope that our work will initiate a clinical trial and that nicotinamide could be used in real patients. In the early phase of MS, anti inflammatory drugs may work, but long term you need to protect against axonal damage.”