Picolinic acid is a pyridine

Pyridine

Pyridine is a basic heterocyclic organic compound with the chemical formula C5H5N. It is structurally related to benzene, with one C-H group replaced by a nitrogen atom...

 compound with a carboxyl side chain at the 2-position. It is an isomer

Isomer

In chemistry, isomers are compounds with the same molecular formula but different structural formulas. Isomers do not necessarily share similar properties, unless they also have the same functional groups. There are many different classes of isomers, like stereoisomers, enantiomers, geometrical...

 of nicotinic acid, which has the carboxyl side chain at the 3-position. It is a catabolite

Catabolism

Catabolism is the set of metabolic pathways that break down molecules into smaller units and release energy. In catabolism, large molecules such as polysaccharides, lipids, nucleic acids and proteins are broken down into smaller units such as monosaccharides, fatty acids, nucleotides, and amino...

 of the amino acid tryptophan

Tryptophan

Tryptophan is one of the 20 standard amino acids, as well as an essential amino acid in the human diet. It is encoded in the standard genetic code as the codon UGG...

.

Chelating properties

Picolinic acid acts as a chelating agent of elements such as chromium, zinc, manganese, copper, iron, and molybdenum in the human body. It is involved in phenylalanine, tryptophan, and alkaloid production, and for the quantitative detection of calcium.

The acid is believed to form a complex with zinc that may facilitate the passage of zinc through the gastrointestinal wall and into the circulatory system

Circulatory system

The circulatory system is an organ system that passes nutrients , gases, hormones, blood cells, etc...

. A study of rats found that dietary picolinic acid increases the turnover and excretion of zinc. Other results suggest that picolinic acid is a chelator which interacts with metals aside from zinc. Commercially available picolinic acid is used as an intermediate to produce pharmaceuticals (especially local anesthetics) and metal salts for the application of nutritional supplements.

Pro-inflammatory properties

Picolinic acid induces macrophage inflammatory protein

Macrophage Inflammatory Protein

Macrophage Inflammatory Proteins belong to the family of chemotactic cytokines known as chemokines. Macrophage inflammatory protein-1 , MIP-1 and MIP-1 are chemokines crucial for immune responses towards infection and inflammation. In humans, there are two major forms, MIP-1α and MIP-1β that are...

s, an effect that is opposed by interferon-gamma

Interferon-gamma

Interferon-gamma is a dimerized soluble cytokine that is the only member of the type II class of interferons. This interferon was originally called macrophage-activating factor, a term now used to describe a larger family of proteins to which IFN-γ belongs...

(IFN-γ).