DURING our investigations on the protein metabolism of schizophrenic patients, a number have been found who exhibited a specific, pathological pattern of emotional response to stress and abnormally high concentrations of a proteolyticenzyme inhibitor in the serum. The studies of West and associates 1 have demonstrated a relationship between the concentrations of this substance, rennin (human pepsin) inhibitor, and those of another, chymotrypsin inhibitor, and the rate of growth of cancer. The higher the titer of rennin inhibitor and the lower that of chymotrypsin inhibitor, the slower is the growth of the neoplasm. On the other hand, if the concentration of chymotrypsin inhibitor approaches or exceeds that of rennin inhibitor, the rate of growth is proportionately increased. Comparable relationships have been found between the relative concentrations of these enzyme inhibitors in active and in arrested pulmonary tuberculosis.2 Acute infections, physical traumas, and burns are accompanied by high chymotrypsinand low rennin-inhibitor titers. Anxiety states, as reactions to immediate, acute stresses, also follow this pattern when unaccompanied by hysterical defenses.3 On the contrary, high rennin-and low chymotryspin-inhibitor titers occur in a variety of chronic diseases. Pregnancy, hyperthyroidism, and, in some cases, hypertension are associated with significantly elevated rennin-inhibitor titers with a somewhat increased chymotrypsin-inhibitor titer.4 West and associates, in establish¬ ing the normal values for these proteolytic-enzyme inhibitors, noted the consistent occurrence of high rennin-and normal chymotrypsin-inhibitor titers in childhood.4The observation by one of the authors (C. E. T.) that the high concentrations of rennin inhibitor in the sera of schizophrenic patients occurred most frequently in the catatonic group suggested the importance of defining precisely the psychiatric From the Psychiatric Section, Neuropsychiatric Service, Veterans Administration Hospital.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.