The effects of nicotinic acid in experimental carbon tetrachloride poisoning of sheep

Abstract

A course of three daily intraperitoneal injections of 2 g nicotinic acid, a precursor of pyridine nucleotides, was found to afford considerable protection to sheep against specific liver damage and dysfunction following a dosage of 50 ml CCl4 given into the rumen on the same day as the third injection. The protection was apparent in the histological picture, respiratory activity, and the concentration of acid-soluble materials which absorb light at 260 mµ. One dose of 2 g nicotinic acid injected intraperitoneally, or given by stomach tube into the rumen, gave a significant measure of protection against the loss from liver homogenates subsequent to a dose of CCl4 of acid-extractable materials which absorb light at 260 mµ. Some protection was given by one dose administered by either of these routes at the same time as CCl4, but the greatest protection was given by the administration of the nicotinic acid a day earlier. Under the conditions of the experiments sheep tolerated very large doses of CCl4, so that it was not possible to assess the prophylactic value of nicotinic acid against lethal doses of CCl4. The results are discussed in relation to the field problem of deaths among sheep treated with CCl4.