A Note on Urinary Copper-Reducing Steroid Excretion in Patients with Psychiatric Disorders

Abstract

Altered adrenocortical activity has been reported in patients suffering from primarily psychiatric disorders by Hemphill and Reiss (1947), Reiss, Hemphill, Gordon and Cook (1949a and b) and others. The chance finding of a high urinary copper-reducing steroid (CRS) excretion in a man suffering from recurrent depressive illnesses who was suspected of having Addison's Disease, prompted us to investigate the excretion of these steroids in a group of un-selected psychiatric patients. We report here the results of 23 estimations on 21 patients.