Opioid peptide profile in human pituitary
Desiderio, D.M.; Fridland, G.H.; Francisco, J.T.; Sacks, H.; Robertson, J.T.; Cezayirli, R.C.; Killmar, J.; Lahren, C.
Clinical Chemistry 34(6): 1104-1107
1988
ISSN/ISBN: 0009-9147 PMID: 2837348 Document Number: 312103
The comprehensive metabolic profile of endogenous opioid peptides is established here for human pituitary for the first time. Sixteen human pituitaries, obtained postmortem, were analyzed individually by gradient reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography together with a radio-receptor assay with [3H]etorphine as ligand. This combination was used to detect opioid receptor activity. The 16 assay profiles were sufficiently consistent for a composite of them to serve as a comparative basis for other studies on the pathophysiology of the human pituitary. To demonstrate one selected comparison, we present data on a distinctively different profile of opioid receptor activity in the pituitary of one patient who died from a drug overdose.