Posted by Larry Hoover on April 27, 2005, at 9:20:20
In reply to Re: NIACINAMIDE for Anxiety, SP/PD, posted by sdb on April 26, 2005, at 16:06:11
> I would not say niacin does not have any effect on gaba receptors. All depends about the affinity or in some cases avidity (ligands to receptors) but also the dosage of every substance you take.
Niacinamide and NAD both have binding affinity for GABA(A) receptors. Both change the conformation of the receptor itself, making it more sensitive to GABA. Niacinamide is a (mild) partial agonist, and I believe NAD is, as well.
As niacinamide readily crosses the blood-brain barrier, it can serve acutely as an anxiolytic. Long-term use would likely lead to down-regulation. Best keep niacinamide as an acute treatment, rather than use it as a maintenance vitamin.
Over in Eastern Europe, it's taken as a fact that niacinamide is anxiolytic. Again, there are earlier publications with no abstracts, but here's a fairly recent one that sums up their belief in these effects.....
Biull Eksp Biol Med. 1993 May;115(5):487-91.
[Psychoregulating role of nicotinamide]
[Article in Russian]
Akhundov RA, Sultanov AA, Gadzhily RA, Sadykhov RV.
In the experiment and clinics, psychotropic effect of nicotinamide (tranquilized and nootropic activity) has been established. It has been shown that nicotinamide in conflict situation has anxiolytic effect, increase aggressive reaction threshold, decrease the quantity of induced fights during interspecies' incompatibility modelling.
Best,
Lar
poster:Larry Hoover
thread:485434
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20050414/msgs/490293.html