576 NIACIN 



pellagrins/®' ^^"^^ but usually not in achylic individuals.^* Other investi- 

 gators^^ confirmed this action of nicotinic acid and nicotinamide in normal 

 individuals but could find little or no increase in patients with pellagra. 



G. SERUM BILIRUBIN 



Intravenous sodium nicotinate (30 to 300 mg.) induces a rather striking 

 rise in indirect reading serum bilirubin in both normals and those with 

 hepatic disease. ^-'^* The increase is generally higher and more prolonged in 

 patients with hepatic diseases than in normal subjects. A copious excretion 

 of bile and increased urinary urobilin were also noted. ^*' ^® Nicotinamide 

 given intravenously did not elevate serum bilirubin but did increase bile 

 flow to some extent.^® 



H. ANTIALLERGIC EFFECTS 



There are quite a number of reports in recent European medical litera- 

 ture attributing antihistaminic and smooth muscle pharmacological effects 

 to nicotinic acid and nicotinamide. These reports constitute an interesting 

 facet of the pharmacology of nicotinic acid which has been largely over- 

 looked in the American literature except for the flushing (smooth muscle?) 

 action of nicotinic acid. 



In 1941 Scaffidi and Molino" noted that intravenous sodium nicotinate 

 caused a transient increase in tone and amplitude of the rhythmic contrac- 

 tions of rabbit uteri. In 1944 Halpern and Dainow^^ discovered that nico- 

 tinamide would protect against anaphylactic shock and histamine aerosol 

 asthma but not against bronchospasm induced by acetylcholine in guinea 

 pigs. These investigators also noted an antagonism between nicotinamide 

 and histamine on the isolated intestine and uteri of guinea pigs. Nicotina- 

 mide diminished the stimulant action of acetylcholine and barium chloride 



*^ G. A. Goldsmith, H. P. Sarett, U. D. Register, and J. Gibbens, J . Clin. Invest. 31, 



533 (1952). 

 ^8 V. Rao, Riv. patol. sper. 26, 49 (1941). 



*' G. Gotgiu and L. Romano, Otti. soc. jned. chir. Padova 7, 3 (1939), quoted in ref. 44. 

 ^0 G. A. Goldsmith, H. P. Sarett, U. D. Register, and J. Gibbens, Federation Proc. 



10, 383 (1951). 

 " D. Zamfir, C. C. Dimitriu, P. lonescu-Stoian, and N. Neculescu, Rev. sturnt. med. 



31, 420 (1942), abstract in Ber. ges. Physiol. 131, 585 (1943). 

 ^^ C. Mattel, Minerva med. 37, 308 (1946). 

 " L. Marfori, M. Stefanini, and P. Bramante, II Policlinico {Rojne) Sez. med. 53, 



243 (1946); Am. J. Med. Sci. 213, 150 (1947). 

 " M. Stefanini, J. Lab. Clin. Med. 34, 1039 (1949). 



" M. Salvini and F. S. Feruglio, Boll. soc. Hal. biol. sper. 24, 979 (1948). 

 66 M. Stefanini, Am. J. Digestive Diseases 17, 337 (1950). 

 "V. Scaffidi and N. Molino, Boll. soc. ital. biol. sper. 16, 284 (1941). 

 B8 B. N. Halpern and I. Dainow, Z. Vitaminforsch. 15, 217, 250, 260 (1944). 



