title: Rethinking the opiate system? Morphine and morphine-6-glucuronide as new endocrine and neuroendocrine mediators.
abstract: Since the 80s, intrigued by presence of morphine precursors in some mammalian cells, different laboratories were able to characterize morphine and morphine precursors in animal tissues. Endogenous morphine studies continued during 90s and this alkaloid was successfully characterized from more organs and fluids of vertebrates, including brain, adrenal gland, heart, cerebrospinal fluid and urine. Then, in the last three years a high rate of publications dealing with this topic emerged, leading to a better understanding of the endogenous morphine system. In this regard, this article comment all the new data recently collected on this rising subject and replace the morphine and its derivative, morphine-6-glucuronide, in the mammalian physiology.
authors.affiliation: Inserm, Physiopathologie du Système Nerveux, Strasbourg, France.
authors.forename: Elise
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Glattard
authors.forename: Arnaud
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Muller
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Aunis
authors.forename: Marie-Hélène
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Metz-Boutigue
authors.forename: George B
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Stefano
authors.forename: Yannick
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Goumon
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D019439:Chromaffin Cells / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D004703:Endocrine System / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D009020:Morphine / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*; D009022:Morphine Derivatives / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*; D009490:Neurosecretory Systems / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D009022:Morphine Derivatives; C035349:morphine-6-glucuronide; D009020:Morphine