Studies of the role of ceruloplasmin and albumin in adrenaline metabolism.

Abstract

For some time we have been attempting to determine whether there were biochemical alterations in schizophrenic patients which would correlate with the behavioral deviations and the physiological characteristics of this disease which we have previously reported.* There are many reports in the literature of minor and inconsistent biochemical differences between normals and schizophrenics. 3 We have reported from this laboratory alterations in the speed of adrenaline oxidation in schizophrenics † and lowered levels of glutathione 6 in association with the psychotic behavior. In our studies, however, findings on both of these tests were nonspecific in that they occurred in association with other diseases not characterized by psychotic behavior. An important consideration is the fact that other disease processes were not present in the schizophrenics who showed these changes. It seemed plausible to us, however, that the changes in these two indicators could be caused by quantitative or qualitative differences in