Fate of excess nicotinamide and nicotinic acid differs in rats

Rats administered excess nicotinamide and nicotinic acid were studied to determine the metabolic fate of pharmacological levels of these compounds. When a large amount of nicotinamide (500 mg/kg body wt) was intraperitoneally injected into rats, 32% of the dose was excreted as nicotinamide, 11% as N1-methylnicotinamide (MNA), 10% as nicotinuric acid, 5% as nicotinic acid, 3% as N1-methyl-4-pyridone-3-carboxamide (4-pyr) and 2% as N1-methyl-2-pyridone-5-carboxamide (2-pyr) during d 1 after the injection. Urinary excretion of these compounds gradually decreased with time and returned to normal by d 3. Urinary excretion of nicotinic acid and nicotinuric acid was observed only on d 1. When a large amount of nicotinic acid (500 mg/kg body wt) was intraperitoneally injected into rats, 55% of the dose was excreted as nicotinic acid and 15% as nicotinuric acid during d 1, and no excretion of these compounds was observed thereafter. The increase in excretion of nicotinamide, MNA, 2-pyr and 4-pyr was slight even on d 1. Excretion of nicotinic acid, nicotinuric acid, nicotinamide, MNA, 2-pyr and 4-pyr returned to normal levels on d 2. From these results, the different fates of excess nicotinamide and nicotinic acid are discussed.