Indoluria in Schizophrenia:

Abstract

Investigation of the urinary excretion of indoles in psychotic illnesses has a certain historical precedent. Thus Townsend (1905) and Bruce (1906) reported excess of indican in the urine of melancholic patients. Bruce correlated this finding with the recognized tendency to constipation in depressives and treated his patients with enemata. Ross (1913) reported that schizophrenic subjects excreted an excess of indole-acetic acid in the urine. De Jong (1945) reported the experimental induction of catalepsy in cats by the intravenous administration of indolethylamine and noted in his monograph that this substance, if perfusedin vitrothrough the liver, is converted to indole-acetic acid. Buscaino (1952) reported finding abnormal amounts of primary and secondary amines in the urine of schizophrenics. More recently Riegelhaupt (1956, 1958) has reported an excess of tryptophan metabolites in schizophrenic urine while McGeer and co-workers (1957) have reported a difference in the excretion of aromatic substances as between normals and schizophrenics. Though these authors do not make the point clear, yet in fact indoles come under the general heading of aromatic substances.