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Jaundice due to nicotinic acid therapy

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Summary

A 22-year-old woman who was admitted with pruritus and marked jaundice had taken 3 g nicotinic acid along with several other vitamin preparations daily for several years. A liver biopsy specimen showed hepatitis with submassive necrosis, as well as cholestasis and marked bile duct proliferation. Her symptoms did not improve until the nicotinic acid was stopped. The long history of pruritus, the liver biopsy findings, and the failure of the patient to improve until nicotinic acid was discontinued were consistent with and suggestive of nicotinic acid hepatotoxicity.

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Author information

Author notes

  1. Alfred Baker MD

    Present address: Pritzker School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Chicago, 950 East 59th Street, 60637, Chicago, Illinois

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Gastroenterology Service of the Department of Medicine, Tufts-New England Medical Center and Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts

    Norman Einstein BS,  Alfred Baker MD, Jonas Galper MD & Hubert Wolfe MD

  2. Department of Pathology, Tufts-New England Medical Center and Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts

    Norman Einstein BS,  Alfred Baker MD, Jonas Galper MD & Hubert Wolfe MD

Authors
  1. Norman Einstein BS
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  2. Alfred Baker MD
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  3. Jonas Galper MD
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  4. Hubert Wolfe MD
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Einstein, N., Baker, A., Galper, J. et al. Jaundice due to nicotinic acid therapy. Digest Dis Sci 20, 282–286 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01070732

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01070732

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