Background and purpose: 1-methylnicotinamide (MNA) has been considered to be an inactive metabolite of nicotinamide. Here we assessed the anti-thrombotic activity of MNA in vivo. Experimental approach: Antithrombotic action of MNA was studied in normotensive rats with extracorporeal thrombus formation (thrombolysis), in renovascular hypertensive rats with intraarterial thrombus formation (arterial thrombosis) and in a venous thrombosis model in rats (venous thrombosis). Key results: MNA (3-100 mg kg À1 ) induced a dose-dependent and sustained thrombolytic response, associated with a rise in 6-keto-PGF 1a in blood. Various compounds structurally related to MNA were either inactive or weaker thrombolytics. Rofecoxib (0.01-1 mg kg À1 ), dose-dependently inhibited the thrombolytic response of MNA, indomethacin (5 mg kg À1 ) abolished it, while L-NAME (5 mg kg À1 ) were without effect. MNA (3-30 mg kg À1 ) also reduced arterial thrombosis and this effect was abrogated by indomethacin (2.5 mg kg À1 ) as well as by rofecoxib (1 mg kg À1 ). MNA, however, did not affect venous thrombosis. In vitro MNA did not modify platelet aggregation nor induce vasodilation. Conclusions and implications: MNA displayed a profile of anti-thrombotic activity in vivo that surpasses that of closely related compounds. MNA inhibited platelet-dependent thrombosis by a mechanism involving cyclooxygenase-2 and prostacyclin. Our findings suggest that endogenous MNA, produced in the liver by nicotinamide N-methyltransferase, could be an endogenous activator of prostacyclin production and thus may regulate thrombotic as well as inflammatory processes in the cardiovascular system.

The novel application of ionic liquids as media for radiolytic generation and UV-vis-NIR spectroscopic characterization of radical ions is described. The redox properties of neat 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium salts and their aqueous solutions have been investigated by means of pulse radiolysis. Furthermore, ionic liquids prove to be ideal media for the simultaneous generation of radical cations and anions. The radical cations generated from 1-methyl-1,4-dihydronicotinamide, a structural analogue of NADH, have been spectroscopically characterized under matrix conditions for the first time.

Two mechanisms of the interconversion of NADH and NAD+ in the coenzyme itself and in its analogues are discussed: a one-step hydride transfer and a stepwise electron-proton-electron transfer. Direct characterization of the transient species in the stepwise process and inversion of the stability order of the keto and enol tautomers is presented. The nonenzymatic and enzyme-mediated reactions of selected pyridinium salts that affect the NADH <==>NAD+ equilibrium are discussed in terms of their potential cytotoxicity.

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