CEPHALIN-CHOLESTEROL FLOCCULATION AND THYMOL TURBIDITY TESTS IN SCHIZOPHRENIA

Abstract

IN RECENT years interest has been displayed in the problem of hepatic function in schizophrenia. In a study concerned with the detoxication of benzoic acid in schizophrenia, Quastel and Wales¹first reported decreased synthesis and excretion of hippuric acid by catatonic patients. The observation that all of a group of 18 catatonic patients excreted subnormal quantities of hippuric acid led these authors to the conclusion that a metabolic disturbance of the liver affecting detoxication of benzoic acid may be a characteristic feature of catatonia. Ström-Olsen and associates²were unable to confirm this observation, as only 5 of their 28 patients exhibited decreased synthesis and output of hippuric acid. The results of Finkelman and associates³were somewhat equivocal. These investigators indicated that the average excretion of hippuric acid in 17 catatonic subjects was below normal. However, it is pertinent to note that 9 of their patients had values