Urinary Pyrrole in Health and Disease

Urinary pyrrole, also known as the mauve factor (malvaria), pyrroluria and kryptopyrrole, was first described in the 1950s. It was found in the urine of patients undergoing experimental LSD treatments. When reacted with Ehrlich’s reagent (p-dimethylamino benzaldehyde), several of the urines developed a purple or “mauve” color. This colored compound was first thought to be an indole. In 1961, a study using paper chromatography identified a group of Ehrlich-positive substances in the urine of patients with mental illnesses and showed that these compounds were more associated with pyrroles than indoles. Hoffer and Mahon, in studies conducted during this same period, confirmed the presence of Ehrlich-positive substances in the urine of patients with schizophrenia. They suggested malvaria as the name for this condition. Other workers also confirmed the presence of Ehrlich positive substances in urine. Sohler, in 1967, using 24-hour urine specimens found malvaria in 60% of chronic schizophrenic patients; it was absent in most normal patients. He postulated that the mauve factor was composed of pyrroles or furans from the breakdown of amino sugars, or the interactions of amino acids and carbohydrates. Such compounds could come from N-acetyl neuraminic acid in the central nervous system. Irvine et al, in 1969, used different extraction techniques and UV-mass spectrophotometer measurements to demonstrate that the mauve factor was a kryptopyrrole (2,4-dimethyl-3-ethylpyrrole). In 1970, Sholer et al, reported that the mauve factor reacted like CASES FROM THE CENTER