Research paper
Improvement in inner retinal function in glaucoma with nicotinamide (vitamin B3) supplementation: A crossover randomized clinical trial
Study answer
What this study found
Nicotinamide improved inner retinal function in glaucoma, with benefits seen on electroretinography but not on global visual field indices. The overall treatment effect favored NAM for PhNR Vmax by 1.35 μV [0.159, 2.551], P = .03 and for the PhNR Vmax/b-wave Vmax ratio by 0.01 [0.002, 0.025], P = .02; PhNR Vmax increased 14.8% [2.8, 26.9] on NAM versus 5.2% [-4.2, 14.6] on placebo, and the ratio increased 12.6% [5.0, 20.2] versus 3.6% [-3.4, 10.5]. No significant change was seen in visual field mean deviation (NAM-PL: 0.10 dB [-0.33, 0.53], P = .63), PSD (NAM-PL: -0.25 dB [-0.63, 0.14], P =…
- Study & population
- This was a crossover randomized clinical trial conducted at two tertiary eye centers in Melbourne, Australia, enrolling adults with treated early-to-moderate glaucoma and visual field mean deviation of at least -10 dB.
- Intervention
- Oral nicotinamide (NAM; vitamin B3 amide) was given in a crossover randomized regimen using matching placebo tablets.
- Key limitation
- The trial was small and short, with only 49 participants in the primary analysis and 12 weeks per treatment period.
View source
Open PDFOriginal abstract
Retinal ganglion cells endure significant metabolic stress in glaucoma but maintain capacity to recover function. Nicotinamide, a precursor of NAD+, is low in serum of glaucoma patients and its supplementation provides robust protection of retinal ga…