Vitamins of the B complex-Niacin

Vitamins of the B Complex
NIACIN (PELLAGRA) Niacin (vitamin B 3) is obtained in the diet or may be synthesized endogenously from an amino acid tryptophan,it plays important roles in carbohydrate and fatty acid metabolism.
Deficiency can occur due to many reasons ,the most important cause has been inadequate dietary intake, chiefly in impoverished populations subsisting on corn-based diets.
Other populations at risk include alcoholics, elderly persons, homeless persons, and the mentally ill.
Classically, it occurs in impoverished populations subsisting on monotonous corn-based diets.
It is worth noting that corn does in fact contain sufficient quantities of niacin to meet human dietary needs; however, much of this exists in a bound form that is not absorbed easily. Bound niacin may be released by soaking corn in alkali prior to cooking, a traditional practice among native peoples of Mexico and Central America that was protective against pellagra.
In the early twentieth century, a pellagra epidemic that occurred in the southern United States was likely caused by the introduction of degermination, which reduced the niacin content of corn products by 25 to 40 percent.
Gastrointestinal malabsorption may cause pellagra.
The skin changes are characteristic,it causes a disease called Pellagra. The usual sites are the face and neck ,hands, arms, and feet. On the dorsa of the hands, the lesions may extend up the arms to form the “glove” or “gauntlet” of pellagra .
Specific therapy consists of the oral administration of 100 to 300 mg of niacinamide daily in divided doses. . Therapy may be given as injections by doctors when diarrhea or a noncooperative patient makes oral administration ineffective or difficult. Multivitamins (especially other vitamins of the B complex) and a high-quality protein diet should be given.