Determination of morphine in the hair of heroin addicts by high performance liquid chromatography with fluorimetric detection

A procedure has been presented for the quantitative determination of morphine contained in the hair of heroin addicts, by means of heat-acid hydrolysis, pre-column dansyl derivatization, straight phase liquid chromatography, and fluorescence detection. External standardization was used. Intra-assay...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of analytical toxicology Vol. 10; no. 4; p. 158
Main Authors Marigo, M, Tagliaro, F, Poiesi, C, Lafisca, S, Neri, C
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England 01.07.1986
Subjects
Adolescent
Adult
Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid
Dansyl Compounds
Hair - analysis
Heroin Dependence - metabolism
Humans
Indicators and Reagents
Morphine - analysis
Spectrometry, Fluorescence
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Summary:A procedure has been presented for the quantitative determination of morphine contained in the hair of heroin addicts, by means of heat-acid hydrolysis, pre-column dansyl derivatization, straight phase liquid chromatography, and fluorescence detection. External standardization was used. Intra-assay and day-to-day variation coefficients were 5.6 and 7.8%, respectively (n = 10), when hair containing 1 ng/mg of morphine was assayed. Hair samples of 22 heroin addicts showed positive results in the range 0.08 to 15.7 ng/mg. No false positive results were found in 20 control subjects. A close correlation was shown between high performance liquid chromatography and radioimmunoassay results (y = 0.97x + 0.26)(r = 0.997, n = 15). Morphine hair content results significantly correlated with the grade of heroin use roughly estimated by means of serial determinations of morphine in urines during the last months before hair sampling.
ISSN:0146-4760
DOI:10.1093/jat/10.4.158