Delayed treatment with nicotinamide (vitamin B3) reduces the infarct volume following focal cerebral ischemia in spontaneously hypertensive rats, diabetic and non-diabetic Fischer 344 rats.

Since hypertension and/or hyperglycemia are risk factors for stroke, we examined whether the putative neuroprotectant, nicotinamide (NAm), could protect spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) or diabetic Fischer 344 rats against focal cerebral ischemia using a model of permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAo). Intravenous NAm given 2 h after MCAo significantly reduced the infarct volume of SHR (750 mg/kg, 31%, P<0.01) and diabetic (500 mg/kg, 56%, P<0.01) as well as non-diabetic (500 mg/kg, 73%, P<0.01) Fischer 344 rats when compared with saline-injected controls. Thus delayed treatment with NAm protected hypertensive and hyperglycemic rats against a robust model of stroke.