Elise Glattard, Ingeborg D Welters, Thomas Lavaux, Arnaud H Muller, Alexis Laux, Dan Zhang, Alexander R Schmidt, François Delalande, Benoît-Joseph Laventie, Sylvie Dirrig-Grosch, Didier A Colin, Alain Van Dorsselaer, Dominique Aunis, Marie-Hélène Metz-Boutigue, Francis Schneider, Yannick Goumon
BACKGROUND: Mammalian cells synthesize morphine and the respective biosynthetic pathway has been elucidated. Human neutrophils release this alkaloid into the media after exposure to morphine precursors. However, the exact role of endogenous morphine in inflammatory processes remains unclear. We postulate that morphine is released during infection and can be determined in the serum of patients with severe infection such as sepsis. METHODOLOGY: The presence and subcellular immunolocalization of endogenous morphine was investigated by ELISA, mass spectrometry analysis and laser confocal microscopy...
2010: PloS One