Abstract
The nutritional efficiency of quinolinic acid as a substitute for nicotinic acid was investigated using weanling rats of the Sprague Dawley strain (3-weeks old) fed a nicotinic acid-free, tryptophan-limited diet containing various amounts of nicotinic acid or quinolinic acid. Judging from the growth response, food efficiency ratio, levels of NAD activity in the blood, liver, brain and upper small intestine, and urinary excretion of niacin we have concluded that exogenous quinolinic acid is approximately 1/9 as active as nicotinic acid. As many foods contain quinolinic acid, dietary quinolinic acid cannot be ignored from the standpoint of tryptophan and nicotinic acid replacement.
