Quaternary N-glucuronides of 10-hydroxylated amitriptyline metabolites in human urine.

1. Conjugated metabolites were isolated from the urine of patients receiving amitriptyline treatment using a combination of solid-phase extraction, h.p.l.c. and t.l.c. 2. By n.m.r. and mass spectrometry, N-glucuronides of E- and Z-10-hydroxyamitriptyline and of trans-10,11-dihydroxyamitriptyline were identified in addition to the previously described O-glucuronides of E- and Z-10-hydroxyamitriptyline and -nortriptyline and amitriptyline-N-glucuronide. 3. The quaternary ammonium glucuronides proved to be resistant to acid hydrolysis, but could be cleaved enzymatically. 4. In urine samples from three patients, 35-60% of conjugated 10-hydroxyamitriptyline was found in the form of N-glucuronides. 5. A volunteer given an i.v. infusion of amitriptyline-N-glucuronide excreted E- and Z-10-hydroxyamitriptyline-N-glucuronide; following ingestion of E-10-hydroxyamitriptyline its N-glucuronide could be measured in urine.

[Are early stages of visual information processing in schizophrenic patients disturbed? Results of an experimental study]. / Sind frühe Stufen der visuellen Informationsverarbeitung bei Schizophrenen gestört? Ergebnisse einer experimentellen Studie.

In a study of early stages of visual information processing in schizophrenic patients, twenty acute schizophrenics, twenty remitted schizophrenics and twenty chronic schizophrenics were compared with control groups consisting of twenty healthy subjects and twenty depressive patients (psychiatric controls). The groups tested were matched for age, sex, and educational level. The psychiatric groups were selected according to the research diagnostic criteria (RDC) of Spitzer et al. Performance in a picture integration task and a backward masking task were measured. Chronic and acute schizophrenics showed similarly poor performance in the masking task compared to both control groups. The remitted schizophrenics, however, did not differ from the healthy controls or from the psychiatric controls. This finding contradicts the claim recently made by Merritt et al., that poor performance in backward masking is a trait marker for schizophrenia.