Continuous nicotinamide administration improves behavioral recovery and reduces lesion size following bilateral frontal controlled cortical impact injury

Previous research has demonstrated considerable preclinical efficacy of nicotinamide (NAM; vitamin B3) in animal models of TBI with systemic dosing at 50 and 500 mg/kg yielding improvements on sensory, motor, cognitive and histological measures. The current study aimed to utilize a more specific dosing paradigm in a clinically relevant delivery mechanism: continuously secreting subcutaneous pumps. A bilateral frontal controlled cortical impact (CCI) or sham surgery was performed and rats were treated with NAM (150 mg/kg day) or saline (1 ml/kg) pumps 30 min after CCI, continuing until seven days post-CCI. Rats were given a loading dose of NAM (50 mg/kg) or saline (1 ml/kg) following pump implant. Rats received behavioral testing (bilateral tactile adhesive removal, locomotor placing task and Morris water maze) starting on day two post-CCI and were sacrificed at 31 days post-CCI and brains were stained to examine lesion size. NAM-treated rats had reductions in sensory, motor and cognitive behavioral deficits compared to vehicle-treated rats. Specifically, NAM-treated rats significantly improved on the bilateral tactile adhesive removal task, locomotor placing task and the reference memory paradigm of the Morris water maze. Lesion size was also significantly reduced in the NAM-treated group. The results from this study indicate that at the current dose, NAM produces beneficial effects on recovery from a bilateral frontal brain injury and that it may be a relevant compound to be explored in human studies.

► Continuous NAM administration improved recovery of function following CCI.
► Continuous NAM administration increased neuronal sparing following CCI.
► Continuous administration of NAM via subcutaneous pumps is effective in increasing NAM serum levels.