A STUDY ON URINARY QUINOLINE COMPOUNDS IN PATIENTS WITH BLADDER CANCER

With the Special Reference to 8-methyl Ether of Xanthurenic Acid

Abstract

Since the role of tryptophan metabolites on bladder carcinogenesis was suggested by Dunning et al. (1950), interest for endogenous bladder carcinogens has stimulated extensive studies of urinary excretion of tryptophan metabolites in patients with bladder cancer and several reports have supported the hypothesis that tryptophan metabolites may play an important role in human bladder carcinogenesis.
Although 8-methyl ether of xanthurenic acid is a metabolite of tryptophan in humans, swine and monkeys, being watched as a carcinogenic substance for urinary bladder or lymphoreticular system of the mouse, there have been no report concerning 8-methyl ether of xanthurenic acid in patients with bladder cancer.
In this study, a new method for the determination of urinary quinoline compounds using thin layer chromatography followed by fluorescent scanning was originated which was available to the examination with its sufficient recovery rate and the determination for urinary excretion of 8-methyl ether of xanthurenic acid in patients with bladder cancer was firstly attempted with other two quinoline compounds (kynurenic acid and xanthurenic acid).
The results were as follows:
1) Of 33 patients with spontaneous bladder cancer, 13 had abnormal excretion of 8-methyl ether of xanthurenic acid.
2) In basal urinary excretion of quinoline compounds, kynurenic acid and 8-methyl ether of xanthurenic acid in male bladder cancer patients and xanthurenic acid in female bladder cancer patients were significantly higher than the control subjects.
3) There were more patients with bladder cancer who excreted abnormal quinoline compounds in pre-loading than in post-loading of L-tryptophan.