Pellagra

Pellagra is a disease caused by a lack of niacin (also knows as nicotinic acid or vitamin B3). Niacin is involved in glycolysis, fatty acid metabolism, tissue respiration and detoxication processes. It is found in most plant and animal food (eg meat, fish, cereals and legumes). It can be partially synthesized from tryptophan.

Epidemiology
At the present, it occurs mainly in poor developing countries, where corn is the main food. The nicotinic acid contained in maize is difficult for the body to use and tryptophan is a limiting essential acid in maize (there is very little of it), so it cannot be used to form niacin,

Clinical symptoms
Clinical signs results from niacin metabolism and manifest mainly on the skin and digestive tract.
 * Early signs of deficit are indigestion, muscle weakness and skin changes.
 * In developed pellagra typical dermatitis - symmetrical lesion in particular parts of the body exposed to light, gastrointestinal problems - diarrhoea alternating with constipation and mental disorders, which may take up to form dementia (confusion). That is why pellagra is called disease 3D (in Angio-Saxon literature "disease 4D" - the last "D" is death)

Related articles

 * Vitamin B3
 * Nutrient deficiency diseases
 * Diseases from excess nutrients