Nicotinamide supplementation boosts human-milk vitamin B3 concentrations

Lactating women with no nicotinamide supplementation tend to have human-milk total vitamin B3 concentrations below the fifth percentile reference limit, a Tanzania study has found.

In this study, researchers randomized lactating females to supplemental nicotinamide 250 mg/day or placebo until 6 months and compared human-milk nicotinamide and B3 vitamer concentrations at lactation months 1 and 5 among 1,173 mother/child dyads with international reference limits. They also assessed child anthropometry and cognitive development.

Over time, the proportion of human-milk total vitamin B3 concentrations below the lower reference limit increased both in lactating women with nicotinamide supplementation and those without (≤0.720 mg/L at 1 month: 0.5 percent vs 2.9 percent; ≤0.549 mg/L at 5 month: 9.9 percent vs 28.8 percent).

Supplementation with nicotinamide resulted in more mothers having human-milk total vitamin B3 concentrations that exceeded the upper reference limit (≥3.284 mg/L at 1 month: 72.9 percent; ≥2.760 mg/L at 5 months: 50.7 percent), as well as with a sustained higher median concentration compared with placebo (month 1: 291 percent; month 5: 281 percent).

Human-milk total vitamin B3 or vitamer concentrations showed no significant associations with child weight, height, or head circumference ≤18 months or with the Malawi Development Assessment Tool score at 18 months.

“Although supplementation was associated with greater total vitamin B3 and vitamer concentrations, there was no association between human-milk vitamin B3 and child growth or development outcomes ≤18 months,” the researchers said.