Ultraviolet-Absorbing Components of Urine from Mentally Retarded Children. III

[摘要] Urinary excretion of ultraviolet light-absorbing end-products of metabolism was studied in mentally retarded children and a single plasma dialysate from a nephrectomized adult male. Aliquots were fractionated on Dowex-1 columns with 1 mol/liter and 4 mol/liter formic acid gradients. Resolved peaks were pooled and suitable aliquots submitted to two-dimensional ascending paper chromatography. Among previously unidentified components, 5-alkyl substituted uracil was found in the plasma dialysate obtained from the nephrectomized male. Citrullinemia was shown to be associated with a high excretion of what we believe to be orotic acid. Another familial disorder of central nervous system function complicated by mental retardation and aggressive destructive behavior (not Lesch-Nyhan syndrome) was characterized on the basis of a urinary metabolic profile. In some mentally retarded children, excretion of creatinine varied enormously. Creatinine, submitted to a systematic, quantitative procedure for assessing the behavioral and physiologic state in mice, had properties of a weak minor tranquilizer; its sedative attributes may be responsible for light sleep preconditioning.

[学科分类] 过敏症与临床免疫学