Effect of nicotinamide therapy upon B-cell function in newly diagnosed Type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetic patients

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Abstract
This study describes the effects of nicotinamide therapy on B-cell function in Type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes. C-peptide secretion was studied in 20 patients newly diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at basal state and also after an i.v. glucagon stimulus. Patients were randomly allocated according to a single-blind schedule, to one of the following treatments over a 45-day period: Group 1: 10 patients, nicotinamide 1 g/day; Group 2: 10 patients, placebo. The C-peptide secretion tests were performed before treatment and on days 15, 45, 180, 365 of the follow-up. The clinical and metabolic data were similar in the two groups of patients. Basal and stimulated C-peptide levels increased by 45 days in both groups, but the increase in stimulated C-peptide response was greater in the nicotinamide group (p1 between the groups was observed. These data suggest that treatment of Type 1 diabetes with nicotinamide at diagnosis is associated with a moderate increase of C-peptide secretion recovery.