Presence of endogenous morphine and morphine 6 glucuronide in human heart tissue

Human atria contain the opiate alkaloids morphine and morphine 6 glucuronid e as determined by high performance liquid chromatography coupled to electr ochemical detection. This method found endogenous morphine and morphine 6 g lucuronide at 106.28 +/- 61.58 and 48.32 +/- 24.63 (+/- SD) ng/gm wet weigh t, respectively. Identification of these opiates was confirmed by nano elec trospray ionization double quadrupole orthogonal acceleration time of fligh t mass spectrometry. Furthermore, human saphenous Vein fragments did not co ntain morphine as determined by these methods. Fragmentation from a selecte d precursor ion by collision-induced dissociation of endogenous morphine 6 glucuronide (462.14 Da) yields morphine (286.14 Da) obtained from the heart tissues and with the authentic material, further demonstrating the presenc e of endogenous morphine. Thus, vascular tissues appear to contain endogeno us opiate alkaloids.