The metabolism of tryptophan in rats and in man

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston UniversityTryptoPhan and its metabolites have been implicated in various mental disorders including schizopnrenia. This serious disease of unknown etiology has become an increasingly important subject of biochemical investigation. In order to understand more fully the metabolism of tryptopnan in schizophrenia, an investigation of urinary metabolites was undertaken, utilizing radioactivity as a marker. Bats were studied to perfect the techniques and to provide possible indications of the metabolites to be looked for in man. TryptoPhan was administered to humans orally, to duplicate the normal route of intake, and intravenously, to obtain indications of tissue activity without the tryptopnan having been acted on by intestinal bacteria. The techniques employed were a combination of two-dimensional ascending paper chromatography and radioautography. The latter was useful in the visual identification of the urinary metabolites of radioactive C14-labelled tryptophan. Through the use of extraction procedures with various solvents, selective separation and identification were made possible. Concentration of the extracts provided for the detection of substances present in only minute quantities [TRUNCATED