Fecal methylamine and dimethylamine in chronic renal failure.

Determinations of methylamine and dimethylamine in the fecal samples from normal subjects (n = 22), nonhemodialysis patients (n = 10), and hemodialysis patients (n = 14) with chronic renal failure have been made by high-performance liquid chromatography of their 2,4-dinitrophenyl derivatives. Fecal methylamine level was significantly lower in the normal group than in the nonhemodialysis group (P less than 0.05) and in the hemodialysis group (P less than 0.05). The mean dimethylamine value of the hemodialysis group was significantly higher than that of the nonhemodialysis group (P less than 0.01) and that of the normal group (P less than 0.005). The method has also been applied to the determination of the two amines in the fecal samples from two patients with leukemia who had been isolated and sterilized in the laminar air flow rooms. Preliminary in vitro experiments were given of the possible pathway for the production of these amines by the incubation of normal fecal samples with added creatinine.