DETOXICATION OF SODIUM BENZOATE IN NEUROPSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS
The Excretion of Hippuric Acid After the Ingestion of Sodium Benzoate.
ISIDORE FINKELMAN M. D.1,
JERRY HORA M. D.1,
IRVING C. SHERMAN M. D.1, , and
M. K. HORWITT PH. D.1
1 The Department of Nervous and Mental Diseases, Northwestern University Medical School and the Elgin State Hospital.
The rate of detoxication of benzoic acid was determined in patients with various neuropsychiatric diseases. About one half of the patients with catatonia showed a defect in hippuric acid synthesis. This may be due to the state of muscular rigidity and immobility of these patients. Deteriorated patients with epilepsy showed a defect in the synthesis of hippuric acid, whereas extramural patients with epilepsy showed a normal excretion of the equivalent benzoic acid. This may indicate a defect in glycine synthesis in deteriorated patients with epilepsy. Normal average values were found in post-encephalitic Parkinsonism and multiple sclerosis. A patient with progressive muscular dystrophy was able to synthesize glycine at a normal rate.
