Studies on the aetiology of bilharzial carcinoma of the urinary bladder V. Excretion of tryptophan metabolites in urine

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Abstract
The urinary excretion of certain metabolites of tryptophan by eight control subjects, six patients with active urinary bilharziasis, five pellagrins with active urinary bilharziasis and 11 patients with bilharzial cancer of the bladder, was investigated. Pellagrins infested with S. haematobium and bilharzial patients with cancer of the bladder excreted some metabolites in excess when compared to controls and to patients infested with S. haematobium alone. Pyridoxine supplementation to seven of the patients with bilharzial cancer of the bladder reduced the differences between metabolite excretion of these patients and of the controls.This evidence suggests that bilharzial patients with or without bladder tumours and pellagrins infested with S. haematobium suffer from pyridoxine deficiency. Therefore, it is concluded that bilharziasis is not the only causal factor in the associated abnormality of tryptophan metabolism.

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