Mauve Spot and Schizophrenia

The authors confirm the reports of an Ehrlich-positive mauve-colored spot on chromatograms of urine extracts in certain schizophrenic patients, and a simplified procedure for performing the test is outlined. Although the data are consistent with earlier observations that certain abnormal materials occur with higher incidence in the urine of schizophrenic patients than in nonschizophrenics, experiments using thin layer chromatography of these materials suggest that the abnormal material may be phenothiazine metabolites.