— October 11, 2026 · Six Findings: Niacin in Brain Cancer, Vitamin C in Blood Disorders, Leucine, Creatine, Mulberry and Ibogaine

Table of Contents

1. The Six Stories at a Glance
2. Niacin and Glioblastoma
3. Vitamin C and the EVITA Trial
4. Leucine and Mitochondria
5. Creatine Without Exercise
6. Mulberry and Gut Bacteria
7. The FDA and Ibogaine
8. Reading Early Findings
9. Sources and Primary Documents
10. Key Research Papers
11. Connections

The Six Stories at a Glance

• Niacin in glioblastoma — single-arm phase I–II trial, no control group; 15 patients in phase I; 82.3% progression-free at six months vs a historical 53.9%. Paper November 2025.
• Vitamin C in early blood disorders (EVITA) — randomised placebo-controlled phase 2 trial; 109 patients; no difference on the primary end point; fewer deaths in an exploratory analysis. Paper September 2026.
• Leucine and mitochondria — worm and cell-line study, no people; high leucine slowed breakdown of mitochondrial membrane proteins. Paper October 2025.
• Creatine without exercise — 12-week trial, creatine randomised, exercise self-selected; 64 adults, 13 per no-exercise group; +1.1 kg DXA lean tissue vs placebo. Paper August 2026.
• Mulberry and gut bacteria — narrative review of animal and laboratory studies; no controlled human trial exists. Paper June 2026.
• The FDA and ibogaine — Federal Register request for information, docket FDA-2026-N-10429, comments until November 20, 2026; approves nothing.

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Niacin and Glioblastoma

A University of Calgary team added controlled-release niacin (vitamin B3) to standard surgery, radiotherapy and temozolomide in adults with newly diagnosed glioblastoma, the most aggressive common brain cancer. The trial is a single-arm, open-label phase I–II study with no control group. In 15 phase I patients the most common side effect was flushing; two dose-limiting toxicities (low platelets, raised bilirubin) occurred at 2,500 mg a day, and the maximum tolerated dose was set at 2,000 mg a day. In the interim phase II analysis, 82.3% of patients were free of tumour progression at six months, which the authors compare with a historical figure of 53.9%.

The press release (October 4, 2026) called this “a 28% improvement.” In the paper it is a difference of 28 percentage points, measured against past patients rather than a control group in the same trial. The release’s statement that niacin “rejuvenates immune cells” to kill cancer is the team’s hypothesis, drawn from mouse and cell work and from blood markers in the phase I patients; this trial does not test it. The abstract also prints a confidence interval too narrow to be possible for a group this size, apparently a typographical error, which is not repeated here. The paper itself was published on November 28, 2025, about ten months before the press release, and the trial is still running.

Read the full deep dive: Niacin in Glioblastoma: The Calgary Phase I–II Trial

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Vitamin C and the EVITA Trial

EVITA, published in Cancer on September 21, 2026, was a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 2 trial in 109 adults with clonal cytopenia of undetermined significance or lower-risk myelodysplastic disease, 101 of them in Denmark and 8 in the United States. Participants took 1,000 mg of oral vitamin C or a placebo daily for 12 months. On the primary end point, the growth rate of the abnormal blood-cell clone, there was no difference (difference −0.016 per year, 95% CI −0.096 to 0.064, p = 0.70). Serious adverse events were fewer on vitamin C (33% vs 57%), and 6 of 19 inflammation markers changed differently between groups.

Coverage led with deaths: 24 on placebo vs 11 on vitamin C (hazard ratio 0.35). The figures are correct, but overall survival was a post hoc, exploratory analysis not in the protocol; the paper says the trial was “neither powered nor designed to assess survival outcomes,” and the placebo group was older, more often male and had lower blood counts at the start. The authors call the finding “hypothesis-generating” and write that “a phase 3 trial is warranted.”

Read the full deep dive: Vitamin C in Blood Disorders: The EVITA Trial

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Leucine and Mitochondria

A University of Cologne study in Nature Cell Biology is laboratory work in roundworms and human cell lines, with no people and no diet. A three-hour exposure to high leucine concentrations (20–50 millimolar in worms, 1–3 millimolar in cells) slowed the breakdown of proteins on the outer membrane of mitochondria and raised oxygen use. The effect ran through the amino-acid sensor GCN2 and a fall in the protein-disposal factor SEL1L, and it was independent of mTORC1, the classic leucine growth pathway. The authors conclude cautiously that the findings “may link” diet-related changes in mitochondria to diseases such as cancer and infertility.

The press release was headlined “Leucine does more than build muscle. It powers up your cells.” The study used no muscle and no food, and it did not measure what eating leucine does in people. In the paper, worms modelling a human leucine-breakdown disorder had normal fertility unless a second gene was also knocked down. The paper appeared on October 31, 2025, about eleven months before the press release.

Read the full deep dive: Leucine, Mitochondria and Cell Energy

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Creatine Without Exercise

A Texas A&M University trial followed 64 sedentary adults aged 45 to 65 for 12 weeks. Each person chose whether to join a supervised exercise programme; within each group, 10 g a day of creatine monohydrate or a placebo was then assigned at random and blind. Without exercise, creatine added 1.1 kg (95% CI 0.2 to 2.0) of DXA “lean tissue” compared with placebo and improved bench-press strength; with exercise it added 1.27 kg and a larger fall in body-fat percentage. There was no effect on aerobic capacity or bone. Memory, mood and blood-marker results were exploratory and not adjusted for multiple comparisons.

The press release said creatine “may help build muscle even without exercise.” Only creatine versus placebo was randomised, each no-exercise group had 13 people, and DXA lean tissue includes water, which creatine is generally known to draw into muscle, so it is not the same as muscle. The no-exercise creatine group also ate significantly more energy and carbohydrate. A creatine manufacturer supplied the supplements, and the senior author discloses that he chairs that company’s scientific advisory board.

Read the full deep dive: Creatine Without Exercise: The 12-Week Trial

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Mulberry and Gut Bacteria

Researchers at Wroclaw Medical University published a narrative review of animal and laboratory studies (176 references, no new experiment). In high-fat-diet and diabetic mice and in test-tube fermentation with human stool, mulberry preparations “frequently” increased Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus and Akkermansia and raised short-chain fatty acids. In mice, white mulberry fruit polyphenols and polysaccharides together beat either alone, and transferring gut bacteria from treated mice carried part of the effect. Results differed by plant part, species and processing. Mulberry leaf is rich in DNJ; black mulberry fruit in anthocyanins.

The press release said mulberry “may reshape gut bacteria and influence metabolism.” The authors themselves write that the main limitation is “the absence of well-controlled human clinical trials” and that the mechanisms rest “primarily” on animal models and laboratory fermentation. The review was published on June 30, 2026, three months before the release.

Read the full deep dive: Mulberry and the Gut Microbiome

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The FDA and Ibogaine

On October 5, 2026 the FDA announced, and on October 6 published in the Federal Register, a request for information on the design and safety of early clinical trials of ibogaine, an alkaloid from the root bark of a West Central African shrub (91 FR 63563, Docket No. FDA-2026-N-10429). It sets out the agency’s “preliminary thinking” and asks for comments, data and information. Comments close on November 20, 2026. The notice “does not establish legally enforceable requirements” and approves no trial or product.

The FDA names the risks plainly: ibogaine “commonly causes substantial QTc interval prolongation, which has been associated with life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias and death” (see long QT syndrome), nerve toxicity in animal studies, and an uncertain starting dose. A forensic review counted 19 deaths between 1990 and 2008, and in a monitored Dutch study half of 14 patients given a single dose exceeded a QTc of 500 milliseconds. The outline proposes single rising doses given one participant at a time in an inpatient unit able to manage life-threatening arrhythmia, with first federally supported trials expected in adults with opioid use disorder and PTSD.

Read the full FDA notice explainer: The FDA’s 2026 Ibogaine Research Notice
About ibogaine itself: Ibogaine: History, Pharmacology and Cardiac Risk

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Reading Early Findings

The six stories sit on different rungs of the evidence ladder. Laboratory and animal studies (leucine, mulberry) show whether a mechanism exists under chosen conditions, and many such findings do not carry over to people. Single-arm pilot trials (niacin) test safety and give a first signal, but compare against past patients. Randomised phase 2 trials (vitamin C) remove much of that bias but are usually too small to judge survival, so results outside the planned end point are treated as leads. A partly randomised trial (creatine) answers its randomised question more cleanly than its self-selected one. Large phase 3 trials and guideline reviews, the level at which medical bodies usually issue recommendations, were not part of this fortnight’s news. A regulatory notice (ibogaine) describes how a question may be studied and is not evidence about a treatment.

Two checks recur: whether a percentage is a relative change or a difference in percentage points, and when the paper was actually published.

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Sources and Primary Documents

Every figure attributed to a study above was taken from the paper (full text where open access; abstract, declarations and trial registry for the niacin paper, which is paywalled) or from the Federal Register notice, not from the press releases.

1. Roldan Urgoiti G, de Robles P, Tsang RY, et al. (2025). A phase I-II study of niacin in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma: safety and interim phase II analysis. Journal of Neuro-Oncology 176(1):101. — doi:10.1007/s11060-025-05351-z · PubMed PMID: 41313494
2. Mikkelsen SU, Al-Mousawi A, Puglisi AB, Vallentin AP, Mortensen AØ, Madaj Z, et al. (2026). Oral vitamin C supplementation in patients with clonal cytopenia of undetermined significance or lower-risk myeloid malignancies: results from EVITA, a phase 2 randomized, placebo-controlled trial. Cancer 132(19):e70549. — doi:10.1002/cncr.70549 · PubMed PMID: 42764731
3. Li Q, Weiss K, Niwa F, Riemer J, Hoppe T (2025). Leucine inhibits degradation of outer mitochondrial membrane proteins to adapt mitochondrial respiration. Nature Cell Biology 27(11):1889-1901. — doi:10.1038/s41556-025-01799-3 · PubMed PMID: 41174002
4. Chun J, Liu Y, Kibler GL, et al. (2026). Effects of creatine supplementation with and without exercise and diet intervention on body composition, cognitive function, and markers of health in middle-aged and older adults. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 23(sup1):2716273. — doi:10.1080/15502783.2026.2716273 · PubMed PMID: 42578920
5. Miszczak MM, Kłosowska-Buryło K, Pieczyńska JM, Bielecka M, Prescha A (2026). Mulberry, Gut Microbiota and Gut Functionality: Effects Shaped by Raw Material and Processing Methods. Biomolecules 16(7):965. — doi:10.3390/biom16070965 · PubMed PMID: 42509759
6. Food and Drug Administration, HHS (October 6, 2026). Request for information and establishment of a public docket, Docket No. FDA-2026-N-10429, 91 FR 63563; comments close November 20, 2026. — Design and Safety Considerations for Clinical Trials Involving Ibogaine Drug Products; Request for Information

Press releases (via ScienceDaily): University of Calgary, October 4 (niacin); Wiley, October 3 (vitamin C); University of Cologne (leucine); Texas A&M University, September 29 (creatine); Wroclaw Medical University, September 30 (mulberry); FDA news release, October 5, 2026.

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Key Research Papers

Background papers for the six stories, in story order; the deep-dive pages cite more. Each entry was checked against PubMed and, for most, Crossref before it was written down.

1. Stupp R, Mason WP, van den Bent MJ, Weller M, Fisher B, Taphoorn MJ, et al. (2005). Radiotherapy plus concomitant and adjuvant temozolomide for glioblastoma. New England Journal of Medicine 352(10):987-996. — PubMed PMID: 15758009
2. Sarkar S, Yang R, Mirzaei R, Rawji K, Poon C, Mishra MK, et al. (2020). Control of brain tumor growth by reactivating myeloid cells with niacin. Science Translational Medicine 12(537):eaay9924. — PubMed PMID: 32238578
3. Agathocleous M, Meacham CE, Burgess RJ, Piskounova E, Zhao Z, Crane GM, et al. (2017). Ascorbate regulates haematopoietic stem cell function and leukaemogenesis. Nature 549(7673):476-481. — PubMed PMID: 28825709
4. Liang C, Curry BJ, Brown PL, Zemel MB (2014). Leucine modulates mitochondrial biogenesis and SIRT1-AMPK signaling in C2C12 myotubes. Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism 2014:239750. — PubMed PMID: 25400942
5. Kreider RB, Gonzalez DE, Hines K, Gil A, Bonilla DA (2025). Safety of creatine supplementation: analysis of the prevalence of reported side effects in clinical trials and adverse event reports. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 22(sup1):2488937. — PubMed PMID: 40198156
6. Wan M, Li Q, Lei Q, Zhou D, Wang S (2022). Polyphenols and Polysaccharides from Morus alba L. Fruit Attenuate High-Fat Diet-Induced Metabolic Syndrome Modifying the Gut Microbiota and Metabolite Profile. Foods 11(12):1818. — PubMed PMID: 35742014
7. Alper KR, Stajić M, Gill JR (2012). Fatalities temporally associated with the ingestion of ibogaine. Journal of Forensic Sciences 57(2):398-412. — PubMed PMID: 22268458
8. Knuijver T, Schellekens A, Belgers M, Donders R, van Oosteren T, Kramers K, Verkes R (2022). Safety of ibogaine administration in detoxification of opioid-dependent individuals: a descriptive open-label observational study. Addiction 117(1):118-128. — PubMed PMID: 33620733

PubMed Topic Searches

1. PubMed: Niacin and glioblastoma
2. PubMed: Vitamin C, TET2 and clonal haematopoiesis
3. PubMed: Leucine, mitochondria and GCN2
4. PubMed: Creatine supplementation and lean mass in older adults
5. PubMed: Mulberry and the gut microbiota
6. PubMed: Ibogaine and QT prolongation

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Connections

• News Archive
• Niacin in Glioblastoma — deep dive on the Calgary trial
• Vitamin C and the EVITA Trial — deep dive on the phase 2 trial
• Leucine and Mitochondria — deep dive on the worm and cell study
• Creatine Without Exercise — deep dive on the 12-week trial
• Mulberry and the Gut Microbiome — deep dive on the review
• FDA Ibogaine Research Notice 2026 — explainer on the request for information
• Ibogaine — history, pharmacology and cardiac risk
• FDA and Regulation — the site’s section on regulatory actions
• Vitamin B3 (Niacin) — the vitamin and its research
• Brain Cancer — glioblastoma and other brain tumours
• Vitamin C — physiology, deficiency and research
• Leucine — the branched-chain amino acid
• Creatine — the compound, its sources and research
• Mulberry Leaf — the herb and its DNJ research
• Long QT Syndrome — the heart-rhythm risk the FDA names for ibogaine

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