1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Urotropin

UROTROPIN (hexamethylenetetramine), known also in the United States under the name Uritone, a medicinal preparation due to the action of ammonia on formaldehyde. It consists of colourless granular crystals freely soluble in water and having an alkaline reaction. Urotropin is among the most powerful of urinary antiseptics. It was formerly thought that its action was due to the setting free of formaldehyde in the urine, but it is now known by the researches of P. Cammidge that this is not so. It is used to render the uric acid in cases where it is alkaline, loaded with phosphates or purulent, and it is thus useful in cases of cystitis. It is slightly diuretic. Experimentally it has been shown to have a solvent acid on uric acid, but its action in this direction in the body requires confirmation. Urotropin is very valuable in sterilizing the urine of patients who have suffered from typhoid fever and thus preventing the spread of the disease by what are known as "typhoid carriers." Analogous preparations are cystamine, helmitol and hetraline. Chinotropin is urotropin quinate, and borovertin is urotropin triborate.