Joseph Goldberger's research on the prevention of pellagra

摘要

Pellagra was first identified among Spanish peasants by Don Gaspar Casal in 1735. A loathsome skin disease, it was called ‘mal de la rosa’ and often mistaken for leprosy. Pellagra has sometimes been called the disease of the four Ds – dermatitis, diarrhoea, dementia and death. In 1937 it was discovered that pellagra was caused by a deficiency of the B vitamin niacin (nicotinic acid). The body's synthesis of this vitamin depends on the availability of the essential amino acid tryptophan, which is found in milk, cheese, fish, meat and eggs. Two decades before the discovery of niacin, however, epidemiological and clinical research done by Joseph Goldberger and his colleagues had identified that pellagra could be prevented by improved diet.