Journal of Experimental Nephrology

Research Article Open Access

Beneficial effects of nicotinamide on hypertensive mice with impaired endothelial nitric oxide function

Phillip K Huynh , Jen Wilder , Sylvia Hiller , John Hagaman , Nobuyuki Takahashi , Nobuyo Maeda-Smithies , Feng Li

Nicotinamide (Nam, amide form of niacin acid or nicotinate), a precursor for nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+), is important for normal physiological function of organisms. Nam also suppresses mobilization of Ca2+ from sarcoplasmic reticulum into cytoplasm through inhibiting ADP-ribose cyclase. Previously, we have demonstrated that a pharmacological dose of Nam normalizes maternal blood pressure in mouse models of preeclampsia, a pregnancy related hypertensive disorder.

J Exp Nephrol, 2020, Volume 1, Issue 1, p1-8 | DOI: 10.46439/nephrology.1.001

Commentary Open Access

The beneficial role of vitamin B12 in injury induced by ischemia/reperfusion: beyond scavenging superoxide?

Feng Li

Vitamin B12 is one of the most complex non-protein compounds as described by Dorothy Hodgkin, a Nobel Prize-winning chemist, who discovered the molecular crystal structure of B12. Cobalamins (vitamin B12 derivatives) contain the rare transition metal, cobalt (Co), positioned in the center of a corrin ring and weakly bound to carbon.  While cobalamins are synthesized only in certain bacteria and archaea, not in mice or humans, they are co-enzymes essential for all life except for plants. For example, in higher vertebrates, methyl-cobalamin and 5’-deoxyadenosyl-cobalamin are essential for the function of methionine synthase and methylmalonyl CoA mutase, respectively.

J Exp Nephrol, 2021, Volume 2, Issue 1, p3-6 | DOI: 10.46439/nephrology.2.007