New research suggests that vitamin B3 could help to protect the brain from the effects of Alzheimer's disease, and may help to improve memory in people without the disease.

Professor Frank LaFerla and colleagues at the University of California at Irvine added vitamin B3, or nicotinamide, to the drinking water of mice with and without Alzheimer's disease. Results showed that mice treated with vitamin B3 had significantly lower levels of the protein phosphorylated tau, a component of neurofibrillary tangles – a major characteristic of Alzheimer's disease.

Furthermore, mice with and without Alzheimer's disease performed better at memory tests after treatment with vitamin B3, thus suggesting that the vitamin may help people with Alzheimer's disease to retain their memory, and that it may be capable of boosting the memory of people without the neurodegenerative disease.

"Nicotinamide has a very robust effect on neurons," said study co-author Kim Green in a news release issued by the University of California at Irvine. "Nicotinamide prevents loss of cognition in mice with Alzheimer's disease, and the beauty of it is we already are moving forward with a clinical trial."  

Green KN, Steffan JS, Martinez-Coria H, Sun X, Schreiber SS, Thompson LM, LaFerla FM. Nicotinamide Restores Cognition in Alzheimer's Disease Transgenic Mice via a Mechanism Involving Sirtuin Inhibition and Selective Reduction of Thr231-Phosphotau. The Journal of Neuroscience. 2008;28:11500-11510.

News release: Vitamin B3 thwarts memory loss in Alzheimer's mice. University of California - Irvine. November 6th 2008.