Hartley R, Green M, Quinn M W, Rushforth J A, Levene M I
Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Leeds, UK.
Biol Neonate. 1994;66(1):1-9. doi: 10.1159/000244083.
In premature neonates (25-34 weeks gestation) who were given morphine intravenously during the first 24 h of life, only morphine, and morphine-3-glucuronide (M3G) were detected in plasma obtained after a 2-hour loading infusion, but morphine-6-glucuronide (M6G) could also be quantified following 24 h of continuous infusion. M3G/morphine and M6G/morphine plasma concentration ratios increased significantly with increasing birth weight. However, the M6G/M3G plasma concentration ratio decreased with increasing birth weight (and gestational age), thus providing the first indication in vivo of the differential development of uridinediphosphate glucuronosyltransferases in humans.
