I am a fan of niacinamide, and the only thing I can find against it is this thing--played up on this website more than any other--that it might shorten one's life. I go a little steady with niacinamide on that account, but I take it for many reasons. For example, despite (and because of?) the association with SIRT1, it is also associated with many measures of health. I find it hard to see how it could shorten my life while improving various measures of my health. I have my own view, which is that we all possess mechanisms to ensure we do not live forever--in other words, we have built-in senescence--so maybe niacinamide is part of that system. After all, it is produced naturally in the body. All else being equal, I am banking that activation and inhibition of sirtuins are just normal balancing processes. I like the fact that some of the biggest proponents of niacinamide--Kaufman, Hoffer, and Pauling--lived to a ripe old age (and I get the impression they were shovelling it down the hatch with a grain scoop).
Niacinamide is not necessarily a supplement that gives you obvious effects, but I have noted one or two things from it. I have noticed that it can warm my fingers when they are cold, which is significant to me since I suffer from chilblains. I think it does this by dilating blood vessels at the periphery. I believe it helps with the heat too, which may contribute to my not getting sunburn. It does have a reputation for helping against sunburn and other skin stresses when taken internally; but it has also been used effectively as a topical skin treatment, for example for age spots. I have very few age spots, but I am thinking about seeing if I can fade them topically with some niacinamide. The science makes sense to me.
Niacinamide has been found to help ease arthritis, which suggests the same benefit to collagen as it has in skin. I also like what I have read about the effect of niacinamide on the brain, where it has been associated with cognitive benefits. I feel as if it supports my sleep.
There is a vast literature on niacinamide research, but here are a few papers bearing on my comments:
Green et al, "Nicotinamide restores cognition in Alzheimer's Disease transgenic mice via a mechanism involving sirtuin inhibition and selective reduction of Thr231-phosphotase", J Neurosci, 2008
Schmeisser, et al, "Role of sirtuins in lifespan regulation is linked to methylation of nicotinamide," Stroke, 2000
Yiasemides, et al, "Oral nicotinamide protects against ultraviolet radiation-induced immunosuppression in humans", Carcinogenesis, 2009
Hakozaki, et al, "The effect of niacinamide on reducing cutaneous pigmentation and suppression of melanosome transfer," Br J Dermatol, 2002
Kang, et al, "Nicotinamide extends replicative lifespan of human cells," Aging Cell, 2006
Jonas, et al, "The effect of niacinamide on osteoarthritis: a pilot study," Inflamm Res, 1996
Edited by Gerrans, 23 July 2015 - 11:09 AM.