Relationship between Tryptophan Metabolism and Some Pathological States

Relationship between Tryptophan Metabolism and Some Pathological States 

As previously mentioned, 3-hydroxyanthranilic acid was found chro-matographically by Musajo et al. (M18) in the urine of tuberculous patients. This was the starting point for an extensive investigation of tryptophan metabolites excreted spontaneously, i.e., by normal subjects or patients with different diseases all fed a normal diet without added tryptophan. 

We began this study in 1953 and, with the collaboration of various clinical departments of the Padua University Medical School, 1170 indi- 

We shall now discuss the results obtained by means of the difFerent analytical methods cited. 

According to all authors, normal subjects excrete only a few mg daily of the more important tryptophan metabolites. 

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