Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37699019›Full record

ArticleLaboratory medicine2024

Sixty years of conjecture over a urinary biomarker: a step closer to understanding the proposed link between anxiety and urinary pyrroles.

Angela Sherwin, Ian C Shaw

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Laboratory medicine, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact, top 81% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed, 0 citations in OpenAlex.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Angela SherwinSchool of Physical & Chemical Sciences.ORCID 0000-0002-8464-2355
Ian C ShawSchool of Physical & Chemical Sciences.
University of Canterbury · NZ

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveFor over 60 years there has been conjecture about the identity of an Ehrlich's test positive pyrrole (Mauve Factor) reputed to be a biomarker for psychological disorders, including anxiety. We reviewed studies that attempt to identify Mauve Factor and subjected authentic standards of the 2 main candidates, kryptopyrrole and hydroxypyrrole, to the Ehrlich's reaction.

methodsModified Ehrlich's test for kryptopyrrole and hydroxypyrrole were applied to urine samples from 10 volunteers, anxious and nonanxious.

resultsBased on the mechanistic chemistry of Ehrlich's reaction and reactions of the 2 compounds, Mauve Factor cannot be hydroxypyrrole. Analyses of urine samples from volunteers, identified by the Generalized Anxiety Disorder - 7 item scale (GAD-7 ≥10; n = 5) and control urine samples (GAD-7 <10; n = 5) using a kryptopyrrole calibration graph, show that concentrations are similar in both groups.

conclusionKryptopyrrole may be the elusive Mauve Factor. Its possible origin from stercobilin via gut microbiome-mediated metabolism, its link to gut-mediated neurological effects via γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptors, and its predicted interaction with Zn2+ and consequent impact on zinc homeostasis are discussed. The GAD-7 scale does not differentiate between state and trait anxiety and as such, the minimal difference in pyrrole levels between volunteer groups requires further study.

Indexed as

AnxietyBiomarkersPyrrolesHumansBiomarkersPyrrolesbiomarker for anxietygeneralized anxiety disorderhydroxypyrrolekryptopyrroleMauve Factorurinary biomarker

Identifiers

PMID37699019
PMCPMC11064097
OpenAlexW4386694560

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.