Editing Niacin (section)

==History==
{{Further|Vitamin#History}}

Niacin as a chemical compound was first described by chemist [[Hugo Weidel]] in 1873 in his studies of [[nicotine]],<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Weidel H | title = Zur Kenntniss des Nicotins | journal = [[Justus Liebigs Annalen der Chemie und Pharmacie]] | year = 1873 | volume = 165 | pages = 330–49 | doi = 10.1002/jlac.18731650212 | issue = 2 | url = https://zenodo.org/record/1427317 | access-date = 3 July 2019 | archive-date = 4 August 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200804134952/https://zenodo.org/record/1427317 | url-status = live }}</ref> but that predated by many years the concept of food components other than protein, fat and carbohydrates that were essential for life. Vitamin nomenclature was initially alphabetical, with [[Elmer McCollum]] calling these fat-soluble A and water-soluble B.<ref name=Combs2007 /> Over time, eight chemically distinct, water-soluble B vitamins were isolated and numbered, with niacin as vitamin B<sub>3</sub>.<ref name=Combs2007>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1CMHiWum0Y4C&pg=PA16|title=The Vitamins: Fundamental Aspects in Nutrition and Health|edition=3rd|vauthors=Combs GF|date=2007|pages=7–33|publisher=Elsevier, Boston, MA|isbn=978-0-080-56130-1|access-date=30 June 2020|archive-date=13 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230113023205/https://books.google.com/books?id=1CMHiWum0Y4C&pg=PA16|url-status=live}}</ref>

{{Further|Pellagra#History}}
Corn (maize) became a staple food in the southeast United States and in parts of Europe. A disease that was characterized by dermatitis of sunlight-exposed skin was described in Spain in 1735 by [[Gaspar Casal]]. He attributed the cause to poor diet.<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Casal G |chapter=The natural and medical history of the principality of the Asturias |title=Classic Descriptions of Disease | veditors = Major RH |edition=3rd  |location=Springfield |publisher=Charles C Thomas  |year=1945 |pages=607–12}}</ref> In northern Italy it was named "pellagra" from the [[Lombard language]] (''agra'' = [[holly]]-like or [[Serous fluid|serum]]-like; ''pell'' = skin).<ref>F. Cherubini, ''Vocabolario Milanese-Italiano'', Imp. Regia Stamperia, 1840-43, vol. I, III.</ref><ref>{{cite web| title = Definition of Pellagra| work = MedicineNet.com| url = http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=4821|access-date=2007-06-18|url-status = live|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070930155704/http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=4821| archive-date = 2007-09-30}}</ref> In time, the disease was more closely linked specifically to corn.<ref>Cesare Lombroso, ''Studi clinici ed esperimentali sulla natura, causa e terapia delle pellagra'' (Bologna: Fava e Garagnani, 1869)</ref> In the US, [[Joseph Goldberger]] was assigned to study pellagra by the Surgeon General of the United States. His studies confirmed a corn-based diet as the culprit, but he did not identify the root cause.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Evans BK,Feinstein AR | s2cid = 13226008 | title = Joseph Goldberger: an unsung hero of American clinical epidemiology | journal = Ann Intern Med | date=September 1994| volume = 121 | issue = 5 | pages = 372–75 | pmid = 8042827 | doi=10.7326/0003-4819-121-5-199409010-00010}}</ref><ref name=Kraut>{{Cite web|url=https://history.nih.gov/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=8883184|title=Dr. Joseph Goldberger and the War on Pellagra {{!}} Ashes on the Potomac|vauthors=Kraut A|website=history.nih.gov|access-date=20 February 2017|archive-date=9 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200509172705/https://history.nih.gov/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=8883184|url-status=live}}</ref>

Nicotinic acid was extracted from liver by biochemist [[Conrad Elvehjem]] in 1937. He later identified the active ingredient, referring to it as "pellagra-preventing factor" and the "anti-blacktongue factor."<ref name=Elvehjem>{{cite journal |vauthors=Elvehjem CA, Madden RJ, Strongandd FM, Woolley DW |year=1938 |title=The isolation and identification of the anti-blacktongue factor J |journal = J. Biol. Chem. |volume=123 |pages=137–49 |url=http://www.jbc.org/content/123/1/137.full.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.jbc.org/content/123/1/137.full.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |issue=1|doi=10.1016/S0021-9258(18)74164-1 |doi-access=free }}</ref> It was also referred to as "vitamin PP", "vitamin P-P" and "PP-factor", all derived from the term "pellagra-preventive factor".<ref name="Pellagra And Its Prevention">{{cite report|vauthors=((World Health Organization)) | title=Pellagra And Its Prevention And Control In Major Emergencies|publisher=[[World Health Organization]] (WHO) | year=2000 | hdl=10665/66704 | hdl-access=free | id=WHO/NHD/00.10}}</ref> In the late 1930s, studies by [[Tom Douglas Spies]], Marion Blankenhorn, and Clark Cooper confirmed that niacin cured pellagra in humans. The prevalence of the disease was greatly reduced as a result.<ref>Ruth Hanna Sachs, [https://books.google.com/books?id=WOPfM-0hz1AC&dq=%22pellagra%3A+Drs.+Tom+Douglas%22&pg=PA630 ''White Rose History''.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421215022/https://books.google.com/books?id=WOPfM-0hz1AC&dq=%22pellagra:+Drs.+Tom+Douglas%22&pg=PA630 |date=21 April 2023 }} Volume I. 2003. Appendix D, p. 2 {{ISBN|978-0-9710541-9-6}} "Men of the Year, outstanding in comprehensive science were three medical researchers who discovered that nicotinic acid was a cure for human pellagra: Drs. Tom Douglas Spies of Cincinnati General Hospital, Marion Arthur Blankenhorn of the University of Cincinnati, Clark Niel Cooper of Waterloo, Iowa."</ref>

Nicotinic acid was initially synthesized by oxidizing [[nicotine]] with [[potassium chromate]] and [[sulfuric acid]].<ref name=JAMA1942a/> Hence, in 1942, when flour [[food fortification|enrichment]] with nicotinic acid began, a headline in the popular press said "Tobacco in Your Bread." In response, the Council on Foods and Nutrition of the [[American Medical Association]] approved of the [[Food and Nutrition Board]]'s new names ''niacin'' and ''niacin amide'' for use primarily by non-scientists. It was thought appropriate to choose a name to dissociate nicotinic acid from nicotine, to avoid the perception that vitamins or niacin-rich food contains nicotine, or that cigarettes contain vitamins. The resulting name ''niacin'' was derived from ''{{strong|ni}}cotinic {{strong|ac}}id'' + ''vitam{{strong|in}}''.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Niacin and Niacin Amide| date=7 March 1942|volume=118|issue=10|doi=10.1001/jama.1942.02830100049011|journal=Journal of the American Medical Association|page=819}}</ref><ref name=JAMA1942a/>

Carpenter found in 1951, that niacin in corn is biologically unavailable, and can be released only in very alkaline [[Lime (material)|lime]] water of [[pH]] 11. This explains why a Latin-American culture that used [[Nixtamalization|alkali-treated cornmeal]] to make tortilla was not at risk for niacin deficiency.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Laguna J, Carpenter KJ | title = Raw versus processed corn in niacin-deficient diets | journal = The Journal of Nutrition | volume = 45 | issue = 1 | pages = 21–8 | date = September 1951 | pmid = 14880960 | doi = 10.1093/jn/45.1.21 | doi-access = free }}</ref>

In 1955, Altschul and colleagues described large amounts of niacin as having a lipid-lowering property.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Altschul R, Hoffer A, Stephen JD | title = Influence of nicotinic acid on serum cholesterol in man | journal = Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics | volume = 54 | issue = 2 | pages = 558–9 | date = February 1955 | pmid = 14350806 | doi = 10.1016/0003-9861(55)90070-9 }}</ref> As such, niacin is the oldest known [[Lipid-lowering agent|lipid-lowering drug]].<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Romani M, Hofer DC, Katsyuba E, Auwerx J |title=Niacin: an old lipid drug in a new NAD+ dress |journal=J. Lipid Res. |volume=60 |issue=4 |pages=741–6 |date=April 2019 |pmid=30782960 |pmc=6446705 |doi=10.1194/jlr.S092007  |doi-access=free }}</ref> [[Lovastatin]], the first '[[statin]]' drug, was first marketed in 1987.<ref name=Simons>{{cite journal | vauthors = Simons J | title = The $10 billion pill | journal = Fortune | volume = 147 | issue = 1 | pages = 58–62, 66, 68 | date = January 2003 | pmid = 12602122 | url = https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2003/01/20/335643/index.htm }}</ref>