Vitamin B3 deficiency (Q39919)

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.