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Urinary dimethyltryptamine and psychiatric symptomatology and classification

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

R. Rodnight ,
R. M. Murray ,
M. C. H. Oon ,
I. F. Brockington ,
P. Nicholls  and
J. L. T. Birley
R. Rodnight*
Affiliation:
Departments of Biochemistry and Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, London
R. M. Murray
Affiliation:
Departments of Biochemistry and Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, London
M. C. H. Oon
Affiliation:
Departments of Biochemistry and Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, London
I. F. Brockington
Affiliation:
Departments of Biochemistry and Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, London
P. Nicholls
Affiliation:
Departments of Biochemistry and Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, London
J. L. T. Birley
Affiliation:
Departments of Biochemistry and Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, London
*
1Address for correspondence: Dr R. Rodnight, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AF.
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Synopsis

The excretion of dimethyltryptamine (DMT) was studied amongst 122 recently admitted psychiatric patients and 20 normal subjects. DMT was detected in the urine of 47% of those diagnosed by their psychiatrists as schizophrenic, 38% of those with other non-affective psychoses, 13% of those with affective psychoses, 19% of those with neurotic and personality disorders and 5% of normal subjects. Ninety-nine patients were interviewed in a semi-standardized fashion, and also categorized according to a variety of operational definitions of the psychoses. The operational definitions failed to reveal any group significantly more correlated with urinary DMT than a hospital diagnosis of schizophrenia, but a discriminant function analysis of symptomatology could be used to define a group of 21 patients of whom 15 (71%) excreted detectable DMT. There was a general relationship between psychotic symptoms and urinary DMT, but specifically schizophrenic symptoms did not appear to be major determinants of DMT excretion.

Type
Research Article
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 6 , Issue 4 , February 1977 , pp. 649 - 657
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1977

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