ICD-11

Niacin deficiency classically results in pellagra, which is a chronic wasting disease associated with a characteristic erythematous dermatitis that is bilateral and symmetrical, a dementia after mental changes including insomnia and apathy preceding an overt encephalopathy, and diarrhoea resulting from inflammation of the intestinal mucous surfaces. Pellagra occurs endemically in poorer areas of Africa, China and India.

Pellagra was common in the United States and parts of Europe in the early twentieth century in areas in which corn or maize (which is low in both niacin and the amino acid tryptophan) was the dietary staple. Although a worldwide problem, pellagra has virtually disappeared from industrialized countries except for its occurrence in chronic alcoholism and in individuals with conditions that disrupt tryptophan pathways.