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Measurement of the skin urocanic acid content in normal and histidinemic infants

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Abstract

The urocanic acid content of the skin was measured photometrically in a large number of normal and histidinemic infants. A very high content was demonstrated in the normal newborn infants, followed by a rapid decrease throughout early infancy. In contrast, 36 measurements in 17 infants with histidinemia revealed a much lower content even in their newborn periods. Thus, the quantification of skin urocanic acid was considered to be simple and useful for confirming the diagnosis of histidinemia, especially in a neonatal mass-screening program.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, Kanagawa Children's Medical Center, Mutsukawa 2-138-4, Minami-ku, 232, Yokohama, Japan

    S. Yokoya, E. Tokuhiro, S. Suwa & H. Maesaka

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  1. S. Yokoya
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  2. E. Tokuhiro
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  3. S. Suwa
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  4. H. Maesaka
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Yokoya, S., Tokuhiro, E., Suwa, S. et al. Measurement of the skin urocanic acid content in normal and histidinemic infants. Eur J Pediatr 140, 330–332 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00442675

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00442675

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