Millon's Reaction in the Urine of Mentally Defective Patients

Abstract

Unhydrolysed urine does not usually give a strong Millon's reaction in healthy people, but various workers have reported a strongly positive Millon's reaction in the unhydrolysed urine of mentally defective patients. Schemer (1927, 1928) worked up such urines for tyrosine with negative result, and also showed that the reaction was not due to free phenol or oxy-acid. He claimed (1929) to have isolated the substance responsible, but did not identify it. Lieb and Schadendorff (1929) showed that the substance isolated was impure sodium acetate formed in the method of isolation. The mystery of the substance giving the Milon's reaction was thus left unsolved.