Abstract
Niacinamide, also known as nicotinamide, is a water- soluble amide of nicotinic acid. Niacinamide is one of two principal forms of the B-complex vitamin, B3. Niacin was first isolated from rice bran in 1911. Niacinamide, the amide of niacin, was later isolated in 1934 by Warburg and Christian when coenzyme II, NADP, was extracted from horse erythrocytes.1 While niacinamide and niacin have identical vitamin activities (i.e., they both prevent development of the vitamin B3-deficiency condition, pellagra), they have very different pharmacological activities.