Vitamin B3, also known as niacin, is a water-soluble vitamin that performs a variety of important physiological functions in the body. Early studies have shown that vitamin B3 participates in the body's energy metabolism process, promotes the metabolism of skin cells, and also has a certain antioxidant effect.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), is the highest incidence of chronic liver disease type in China, there are more than 150 million patients in China, of which 10-20% will further develop into non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), mainly manifested by inflammation and liver cell damage, often accompanied by fibrosis. NASH progresses rapidly and has a higher risk of developing serious liver diseases such as cirrhosis and liver cancer.

Recently, Researchers from the School of Public Health at Sun Yat-sen University published a paper in the journal JAMA Network Open entitled "Dietary Niacin Intake and Mortality Among Individuals With Nonalcoholic. Fatty Liver Disease "research paper.

The study showed that supplementation with vitamin B3, or a reduction in the risk of all-cause death in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, was associated with a 30% reduction in the risk of all-cause death in participants with the highest intake (≥26.7mg/ day) compared with participants with the lowest intake (≤18.4mg/ day).

In this study, the researchers analyzed the association between dietary vitamin B3 intake and the risk of all-cause death in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease by collecting dietary vitamin B3 intake from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) database of 4,315 NAFLD patients with an average age of 53 years.

Participants were divided into three groups based on vitamin B3 intake: low intake group (≤18.4mg/ day), medium intake group (18.5-26.6mg/ day) and high intake group (≥26.7mg/ day).
During a mean follow-up period of 8.8 years, a total of 566 deaths were recorded, 197 of which were attributed to cardiovascular disease.

The analysis found that participants with the highest intake had a 30 percent lower risk of all-cause death compared to participants with the lowest intake.

In addition, participants with the highest intake had a 35 percent reduction in cardiovascular death risk, but this was not statistically significant.

Further analysis found a significant interaction between vitamin B3 intake and the risk of diabetes and all-cause death, with a greater reduction in mortality in non-diabetic patients compared to those with diabetes.

According to the researchers, niacin is one of the precursors of NAD synthesis and has become an important target for the prevention and treatment of liver disease. Population intervention studies have also shown that niacin can improve fatty liver and reduce liver fat content. In preclinical studies, niacin has been found to inhibit and reverse liver steatosis and inflammation, and prevent fibrosis. These effects are achieved by reducing oxidative stress, inhibiting diacylglyceryl acyltransferase 2 and NADPH oxidase activity, and other possible mechanisms.

It is worth mentioning that in September 2023, Researchers from the School of Public Health at Sun Yat-sen University published a paper in the journal Nutrients entitled "Association between Dietary Niacin Intake and Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: NHANES 2003-2018 "research paper.

The study showed that vitamin B3 supplementation was associated with a lower risk of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, with those with the highest niacin intake (≥29.2mg/ day) having a 31% lower risk of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease compared with those with the lowest niacin intake (≤16.3mg/ day).

Taken together, ?the results suggest that vitamin B3 supplementation is associated with a lower risk of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease ?and a reduced risk of all-cause death in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Further research is needed to ?confirm the optimal dose of vitamin B3 to reduce the risk of all-cause death in patients with NAFLD.