THE EXCRETION OF SPECIFIC FLUORESCENT SUBSTANCES IN THE URINE IN PELLAGRA

Abstract

In pel-lagrous patients and in canine black tongue there is disappearance of the normal substance in urine which produces fluorescence on alkalinization (F2). There appears in these conditions an abnormal whitish-blue fluorescence which is not present in normal subjects (F1). It is assumed that F2 is converted into F2 by an enzyme of which nicotinic acid is a component, and that this conversion does not take place in states of nicotinic acid deficiency. Since both F1 and F2 can be measured quantitatively, these observations afford a basis for the estimation of the degree of nicotinic acid deficiency.