Medindia LOGIN REGISTER
Medindia

Vitamin B3 Could be Useful in Fighting Off MRSA

by Kathy Jones on Aug 28 2012 9:37 PM

 Vitamin B3 Could be Useful in Fighting Off MRSA
Vitamin B3 can provide a massive boost to the immune system against antibiotic-resistant staph infections, according to a multi-institute study including researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University and UCLA.
According to the study, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, high doses of vitamin B3, or nicotinamide, can help the immune cells fight against antibiotic resistant Staphylococcus aureus by more than 1,000 times.

The researchers also found that vitamin B3 was effective against the deadly methicillin resistant S. aureus (MRSA).

The researchers said that high doses of vitamin B3 activated certain antimicrobial genes that increased the bacteria killing ability of the immune cells. “Antibiotics are wonder drugs, but they face increasing problems with resistance by various types of bacteria. This could give us a new way to treat staph infections that can be deadly, and might be used in combination with current antibiotics”, Oregon State University’s Adrian Gombart said.

Source-Medindia


Advertisement