Beta-Aminoisobutyric Acid, A Possible Factor in Pyrimidine Metabolism.

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Abstract
The unknown substance previously reported as a major ninhydrin-reacting component in a number of urine chromatograms, particularly in those of patients with malignancy, was isolated from the urines of 2 cancer patients and identified as beta- aminoisobutyric acid (BAIB). In a group of 140 apparently healthy subjects, 52 individuals showed detectable urinary levels of BAIB (0.15 milli-moles/1.), and 3 of these showed concns. over 1 millimole/1. Individual control subjects studied at intervals for periods up to 2.5 yrs. showed little fluctuation in BAIB excretion. In contrast, the urinary BAIB level in individual patients with neoplastic disease occasionally varied markedly and appeared to bear some relationship to the neoplastic process. Such variations are illustrated by a report of a case of chronic myelogenous leukemia. Theoretical considerations pointed to a 5-methyl-pyrimidine as a likely precursor of BAIB, and evidence favoring this view was obtained by rat expts. in which BAIB excretion was produced by a diet containing large amts. of desoxyribo-nucleic acid but not by one similarly enriched in ribonucleic acid.
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