[Excretion of 3,4-dimethoxy phenylethylamine in the urine of schizophrenics]

According to the hypothesis of Osmond, Harley-Mason and Smythies on abnormal methylation products in the catecholamine metabolism in schizophrenics, the excretion of 3,4-dimethoxyphenylethylamine (3,4-DMPEA) in the urine was examined in 80 patients with endogenous psychoses and in 20 normal persons. In 38% of the patients 3,4-DMPEA was found, whereas no 3,4-DMPEA was found in normal persons. When the biochemical findings obtained are correlated to the corresponding diagnoses the highest incidence of positive findings was observed in paranoid-hallucinatory schizophrenics with 71% in males and 75% in females. The signification of controls during the course of the experiments is emphasized.