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Researchers  Discover  Vitamin  B3  is  a  Potent  Anti-­‐Fungal  
 
Researchers  in  Montreal,  Quebec,  Canada,  have  found  that  vitamin  B3  is  a  potent  treatment  for  
drug-­‐resistant  fungal  infections  that  can  attack  people  with  compromised  immune  systems  which  can  
then  lead  to  illness  and  even  death.  
Fungal  infections  such  as  Candida  albicans  and  Aspergillus  fumigatus  have  become  resistant  to  
current  drug  treatments,  yet  are  found  almost  everywhere.  Patients  with  compromised  immune  
systems,  such  those  with  diabetes,  HIV  infection,  or  who  are  undergoing  chemotherapy  or  organ  
transplants,  are  the  usual  victims  of  difficult-­‐to-­‐treat  fungal  infections.  
Researchers  at  the  Institute  for  Research  in  Immunology  and  Cancer  (IRIC)  of  the  University  of  
Montreal  found  that  Vitamin  B3,  in  the  form  of  nicotinamide,  strongly  reduced  both  normal  and  drug-­‐
resistant  strains  of  Candida  albicans  virulence  in  mice.  Nicotinamide  also  prevented  the  growth  of  other  
pathogenic  Candida  species  and  Aspergillus  fumigatus.  A  professor  at  the  University  of  Montreal  
Department  of  Biochemistry  explained  that  the  need  to  develop  new  therapies  to  kill  Candida  albicans  is  
urgent,  because  it  has  become  one  of  the  leading  causes  of  often  fatal  hospital-­‐acquired  infections.  
Candida  albicans,  although  present  in  the  body  under  normal  conditions,  is  an  opportunistic  
infection  that  takes  over  when  immunity  becomes  compromised.  When  this  yeast  infection  enters  the  
bloodstream  it  can  lead  to  death.  
According  to  a  book  review  in  the  New  England  Journal  of  Medicine,  “Aspergillus  fumigatus  and  
Aspergillosis…”  (the  name  of  an  Aspergillus  infection)  “…has  emerged  as  one  of  the  most  common  and  
most  feared  opportunistic  infections  in  immunocompromised  patients.”  
Finding  that  vitamin  B3  might  effectively  treat  drug  resistant  fungal  infections  is  seen  as  a  much-­‐
needed  breakthrough  because  it  has  fewer  side  effects  for  patients  than  currently  used  drugs.  
 
Sources:  Nature  Medicine,  July,2010,  http://www.nature.com/nm/journal/v16/n7/full/nm.2175.html  

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