XII. PHARMACOLOGY 575 



equally divided among those who find a hyperglycemia, those who find no 

 effect, and those who find a hypoglycemia after intravenous nicotinic acid. 

 More recent reports concerning both animals and man have not clarified 

 this subject, although most reports indicate either no effect or a slight 

 hypoglycemic action.^^-" Poppalardo^^ found a marked hypoglycemic action 

 when nicotinic acid or nicotinamide was given by subarachnoid injection 

 in man. Insulin injected into the developing egg embryo induced develop- 

 mental defects. Nicotinamide prevented this effect, although a-ketoglutaric 

 acid also had a similar action.^^ 



E. KETOSIS 



Janes and Meyers^" discovered that rather large amounts of nicotinic 

 acid would induce ketosis in alloxan diabetic rats. The alcohol of nicotinic 

 acid (Roniacol) was more active, and nicotinamide less active, than nico- 

 tinic acid in this action.^^ Banerjee'^^ found that nicotinic acid, and several 

 other compounds having a pyridine nucleus and a carboxyl group, would 

 inhibit the diabetogenic action of alloxan in rabbits. However, there is 

 nothing specific about the action of nicotinic acid in either the induction 

 or the progress of alloxan diabetes. Janes and Brady^^ found that excessive 

 doses of nicotinic acid induced ketosis even in normal rats. Banerjee and 

 Ghosh^^ could detect no effect of large doses of nicotinamide on blood 

 acetone bodies in either normal or diabetic subjects. 



F. GASTRIC SECRETION 



Both nicotinic acid and nicotinamide have the ability to increase gastric 

 secretion, including free and total acid, in normal individuals^^-^^ and in 



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33 S. Eser, Bull. fac. med. Instanhul 11, 82 (1948). 



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36 E. M. Alesker, Klin. Med. (U.S.S.R.) 27, 70 (1949). 



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39 W. Landauer, /. Exptl. Zool. 109, 283 (1948). 



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