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Nicotinic acid

Nicotinic acid (niacin, pyridine-3-carboxylic acid) is a water-soluble vitamin required by the human body for health, growth and reproduction; a part of the Vitamin B complex. Nicotinic acid is a white, odorless or almost odorless, crystal or crystalline powder. It is also known as niacin, a term introduced to avoid confusion between the vitamin and the alkaloid nicotine. Nicotinic acid functions in the body after conversion to either nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) or nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADP). Nicotinic acid occurs in these two nucleotides in the form of its amide, nicotinamide, so that, for practical purposes, administration of nicotinic acid or nicotinamide are one and the same thing. Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADP) serve as coenzymes for a wide variety of proteins that catalyze oxidation-reduction reactions essential for tissue respiration. Nicotinic acid has been used for many years in the treatment of lipidernic disorders such as hyperlipidemia, hypercholesterolemia and atherosclerosis. This compound has long been known to exhibit the beneficial effects of reducing total cholesterol, low density lipoproteins or LDL cholesterol triglycerides and apolipoprotein a (Lp(a)) in the human body, while increasing desirable high density lipoproteins or HDL cholesterol. Nicotinic acid produces frequent adverse effects, but they are usually not serious, tend to decrease with time, and can be managed easily. The exact dosage that will give rise to adverse effects probably varies from individual to individual, and is difficult to determine.

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