Effect of nicotinamide administration on the tryptophan-nicotinamide pathway in humans

The vitamin nicotinamide is synthesized in the liver from tryptophan, and distributed to non-hepatic tissues. Although it is generally accepted that 60 mg tryptophan is equivalent to 1 mg nicotinamide in humans, the conversion ratio of tryptophan to nicotinamide is changeable. To determine if de novo nicotinamide synthesis from tryptophan is influenced by nicotinamide intake itself, six young women consumed controlled diets containing 30.4 or 24.8 mg niacin-equivalent nicotinamide supplements with 0, 89, 310, or 562 micromol/day (0, 10.9, 37.8, or 68.6 mg/day, respectively), and urinary excretion of intermediates and metabolites of the tryptophan-nicotinamide pathway were measured. Urinary excretion of nicotinamide metabolites increased linearly in a dose-dependent manner. None of the intermediates, including anthranilic acid, kynurenic acid, xanthurenic acid, 3-hydroxyanthranilic acid, and quinolinic acid, changed at all, even when up to 562 micromol/day nicotinamide was given. That is, exogenous nicotinamide did not affect de novo nicotinamide synthesis. Therefore, when niacin equivalent is calculated, the intake of nicotinamide itself need not be considered as a factor that changes the tryptophan-nicotinamide conversion ratio.