Studies on the chemical nature of urinary chemiluminescence

Studies on the nature of the chemicals responsible for urinary chemiluminescence have been carried out. Urinary chemiluminescence can be increased slightly by sulphatase, more by glucuronidase but most of all by boiling for 1 hour at pH 1. It is suggested that most of the chemicals responsible for urinary chemiluminescence are bound as non-chemiluminescent precursors to sulphate, glucuronic acid and in other ways. Both the chemiluminescent material and the inactive precursors are freely ultrafiltrable with molecular weights below 500. A survey of various chemicals has revealed considerable chemiluminescence in certain metabolites of naphthylamines and known to cause bladder cancer but little or no chemoluminescence in the tryptophane metabolites that have been thought to cause bladder cancer.