Medical expert of the article
New publications
Eczema in a child may be due to a lack of vitamin PP in the mother
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
All iLive content is medically reviewed or fact checked to ensure as much factual accuracy as possible.
We have strict sourcing guidelines and only link to reputable media sites, academic research institutions and, whenever possible, medically peer reviewed studies. Note that the numbers in parentheses ([1], [2], etc.) are clickable links to these studies.
If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise questionable, please select it and press Ctrl + Enter.
Leading English scientists - scientific representatives of the University of Southampton - proved that the lack of nicotinamide (vitamin PP) during pregnancy increases the risk of eczema in a newborn baby. Experts are sure: insufficient content of vitamin PP and products of its metabolism occupies one of the main positions in the pathogenesis of the appearance of eczema. Such unique information is a kind of continuation of the recent assumption that children can acquire an inclination to develop eczema even in the womb. If you believe a new conclusion of scientists, then it is possible to successfully solve the problem of the appearance of the disease in children by medication or food correction of nicotinamide in the blood of a pregnant woman. "To confirm the relationship we discovered, it is necessary to conduct a number of studies. However, we are confident that we are moving in the right direction and will soon be able to prevent the development of eczema, "says Dr. Keith Godfrey, head of the Biomedicine Center for Nutrition Studies in Southampton.
The essence of the study was as follows. Specialists measured the level of a number of substances present in the bloodstream of pregnant women. In all, almost five hundred expectant mothers were examined. The level of kynurenine, kinurenic and anthranilic acids, vitamin PP and tryptophan, N1-methyl nicotinamide was determined. All the examinations were carried out in the last trimester of pregnancy. Further research continued after the birth of newborn children. Experts checked the relationship between the contents of the abovementioned vitamins and the products of their metabolism, which were determined in the blood plasma of the mother, with cases of the incidence of children with eczema. Indeed, this relationship was found, but only when the children were 6-12 months old.
Since the moment of newborns and up to six months, such a connection has not been observed. Why there was such a late appearance of the problem - the scientists could not explain. "External drugs, which include vitamin PP, have been used for many years to relieve the symptoms of eczema. But the relationship between the content of nicotinamide in the blood of a pregnant woman and the danger of developing a disease such as atopic dermatitis, scientists considered for the first time. At the moment, experts can think through effective preventive measures, involving special dietary intake and taking special vitamin preparations, "the leading British dermatologist comments on the results of the study. Completely about the study can be found on the pages of the popular periodical "Journal of Clinic and Experimental Allergology".
Employees and representatives of the University of Southampton in detail describe each new stage of the experiments. By the way, nicotinamide and nicotinic acid are in sufficient quantities in peanuts, pine nuts, pistachios, turkey meat, mackerel, horse mackerel and tuna, as well as in the liver and green peas.