Cross-cultural study of a biochemical abnormality in paranoid schizophrenia.
We studied 24-hour urinary excretion of phenylethylamine (PEA) and creatinine in 50 schizophrenic (39 paranoid and 11 nonparanoid) and 19 nonpsychiatric patients from Bombay, India. Methods for diagnosis, clinical assessment, and 24-hour urine collection were identical to those used in an earlier study done in a Washington, D.C. hospital. Clinical evaluations were done in Bombay, while urinary PEA and creatinine estimations were performed at NIMH, Washington, without knowledge of the subjects' identify. Paranoid schizophrenic patients had significantly greater 24-hour urinary excretion of PEA than both nonparanoid schizophrenic patients and nonpsychiatric controls. The mean amount of PEA per g creatinine in urine was also highest of paranoid schizophrenic patients. Our findings provide cross-cultural support to the possibility of abnormal PEA metabolism in at least some patients with paranoid schizophrenia.
D000328:Adult; D003404:Creatinine / Q000652:urine*; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D008297:Male; D010627:Phenethylamines / Q000652:urine*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000652:urine; D012563:Schizophrenia, Paranoid / Q000523:psychology / Q000652:urine*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology
D010627:Phenethylamines; C029261:phenethylamine; D003404:Creatinine