Purple Pee
"Catheter bags," which are sometimes used to collect hospitalized patient's urine, are not usually a hot topic of discussion — unless the patient's pee turns purple. That was the case for a woman in France who, after 10 days of hospitalization, saw the pee in her catheter bag change from a normal yellow to a curious violet. The rare condition, known simply as "purple urine bag syndrome," is the result of an odd chemical reaction that can take place inside catheter bags. It occurs when bacteria convert a chemical in urine called indoxyl sulfate — a breakdown product of the dietary component tryptophan — into red- and blue-colored compounds, which together appear purple. Although strange-looking, purple pee itself is benign. But it can signal a urinary tract infection. Fortunately, the French woman did not have a urinary tract infection, and her pee gradually returned to normal after a four-day period of increased hydration, according to a report of the case, published Oct. 31 in The New England Journal of Medicine. Originally published in Learning Science
