Two men and a woman, all with moderately high values for cholesterol and triglycerides in plasma but otherwise healthy, were given 200 mg nicotinic acid by mouth, followed by 2 further doses of 100 mg at hourly intervals. Blood was taken from the brachial artery every 15 min for 1 h before treatment and up to 1/2 h after the last dose. Free fatty acids in plasma were estimated by Dole's method (Abst. 3314, Vol. 26); results are shown graphically. Free fatty acid values fell markedly 15 to 30 min after the first dose; blood pressure and pulse rate were unaffected. Values rose 45 to 60 min later, by about the same amount, above the initial values. In 2 other volunteers (unpublished work) no significant change in blood glucose was found when nicotinic acid was given by mouth, although the expected decrease of free fatty acid values occurred.

Two anaesthetised dogs were given noradrenaline by intravenous infusion, 0.6 µg per kg bodyweight per min for two 20-min periods, with a 2-h interval between. Free fatty acids in plasma and blood pressure increased each time after the infusion, as was expected. In 3 others, weighing, like the first 2. from 14 to 24 kg, treated in the same way but given nicotinic acid by intravenous infusion, 100 mg per kg bodyweight, for 1 h before the second infusion of nor-adrenaline, the second expected increase of free fatty acids was much reduced; the rise of blood pressure was unaffected.-P. A. Tallantire.