Metabolism of aromatic amino acids in collagen diseases. urinary excretion of vanillactic acid and dihydroxyphenylalanine

1. (1) Vanillactic acid was newly synthesized, and its chromatographic properties and reactions were investigated and found to be in satisfactory agreement with those of the naturally occurring vanillactic in the urine in rheumatic fever. 2. (2) Increased urinary excretion of DOPA was observed in children suffering from collagen diseases. A relatively simple procedure was devised for the semiquantitative determination of DOPA in the urine. 3. (3) Increased urinary output of an indole compound, probably 3-methoxy-tryptophan, was observed in rheumatic fever. 4. (4) Aspects of the metabolism of aromatic amino acids in rheumatic fever are discussed in relation to these findings. © 1964