Vitamin B3 Effective Against Staph Infections

U.S. academic researchers say they were able to kill antibiotic-resistant staph bacteria with a megadose of vitamin B3 (nicotinamide) in a recent study. The discovery, observed in both human and animal blood, offers a potential alternative to antibiotic treatment of staph. Antibiotics have, of course, created such stronger bacteria in the first place.

Vitamin B3 reportedly increased the number of bacteria-fighting neutrophils in the blood, and their ability to kill staph by 1000 times. A staph infection was wiped out within a few hours of the megadose-an amount far greater than that which could be obtained through normal diet and/or supplementation.

Staph infections are prevalent in hospitals and nursing homes, but athletes, military personnel, and those in prison are increasingly at risk.

“This could give us a new way to treat staph infections that can be deadly, and might be used in combination with current antibiotics,” said Adrian Gombart, study author and associate professor at Oregon State University’s Linus Pauling Institute. “It’s a way to tap into the power of the innate immune system and stimulate it to provide a more powerful and natural immune response.”

Gombart’s research was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health. The results of the study on vitamin B3 and staph bacteria are published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.