<b>DIETARY AND BIOCHEMICAL PARAMETERS OF THE NIACIN DEFICIENCY IM YOUNG RATS</b>

Abstract

<p align="justify">ABSTRACT: Using a defined laboratory diet composed by gelatin (6%) and casein (10%) as protein sources, without tryptophan and nicotinic acid supplementation, it should be possible to reproduce, in young rats, after 28 dais feeding with this deficient diet, a clinical and laboratory model of niacin deficiency. The deficient group, when compared against control, showed poor growth (63.3 g x 163.3 g; p<0.05), lower urinary excretion of N’-methylnicotinamide (0.005 mg/24 h x 0.259 mg/24 h; p<0.05), lower plasma free-tryptophan (2.1 uM/dl x 5.4 uM/dl; p<0.05), lower plasma albumin level (1.8 g/dl; p<0.05), smaller erythrocytes (48.9 u3 x 54.8 u3; p<0.05) and lower corpuscular hemoglobin (23.2 pg x 26.6 pg; p<0.05). All these changes were normalized by niacin replacement. We conclude that this dietetics model is easy and practical to be used for niacin deficiency purposes. KEYWORDS: Niacin; nicotinicacid; tryptophan; N’-methylnicotinamide; Pellagra.</p>

Keywords

• Niacin
• nicotinicacid
• tryptophan
• N’-methylnicotinamide
• Pellagra.