Evaluation of morphine metabolites in postmortem cases.

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    Quantification and interpretation of morphine and its glucuronide metabolites in current and historical postmortem cases.

  • IRAS ID

    227157

  • Contact name

    Abbas Kablan

  • Contact email

    abbas_kablan@yahoo.com

  • Sponsor organisation

    University of Glasgow

  • Duration of Study in the UK

    0 years, 5 months, 31 days

  • Research summary

    The quantification of morphine simultaneously with its glucuronide metabolites and the calculation of metabolic ratios have become of increasing interest for a better understanding and interpretation of deaths involving heroin. Morphine is extensively metabolised in the human liver producing two important metabolites, morphine-6-glucuronide (M6G) and morphine-3-glucuronide (M3G). Morphine can be measured as a free or total drug, the latter including both the free morphine and conjugated metabolites, M3G and M6G.

    M3G and M6G can undergo a chemical change and post-mortem hydrolysis increases apparent free morphine concentrations. Several reviews have considered the factors that can influence the concentration of drugs measured at post-mortem, the drug can be altered as the result of a physicochemical change in the post-mortem environment. It is also known that hydrolysis of the glucuronides to morphine is increased in unpreserved tissues sample, and this is hastened by factors such as storage temperature, bacterial contamination and pH changes.

    Moreover, drug-testing laboratories must keep specimens for several months to allow testing or retesting if needed. Therefore, general knowledge on the stability of the target analytes in the biological matrix under investigation must be considered for reliable interpretation of the analytical results. For blood specimens, only limited data on the stability of relevant substances have been reported. In addition, every laboratory is different in their collection and storage of samples, and therefore it is important to evaluate each laboratory separately.

    This study will investigate possible correlations between morphine and its glucuronides in post-mortem blood over different storage periods. In addition, the results will be used to compare with methods currently used in the laboratory to test for total morphine. Samples are from postmortem cases which are being routinely investigated by the Procurator Fiscal as a “drug-related” death. Cases included in the study will be both current cases and historical cases which have been stored for several months/years. The results of the study will be used to evaluate the current method and provide a recommendation for the storage of samples, the testing method and interpretation of results.

  • REC name

    West of Scotland REC 3

  • REC reference

    17/WS/0102

  • Date of REC Opinion

    2 Jun 2017

  • REC opinion

    Favourable Opinion