Mass spectrometric identification and quantification of hemorphins extracted from human adrenal and pheochromocytoma tissue.

The hemorphins are a family of recently identified opioid receptor binding peptides derived from the proteolytic processing of the beta, gamma, delta, and epsilon chains of hemoglobin. They have previously been identified at high concentration in human pituitary glands and in the CSF of patients with cerebral bleeding. Hemorphins are potent inhibitors of angiotensin converting enzyme and therefore possibly have a role to play in blood pressure regulation. We report the presence of four hemorphin peptides in extracts of normal adrenal tissue and in pheochromocytoma tumors. The hemorphins were quantified and structurally characterized using mass spectrometry. High concentrations of hemorphins were found in all samples, comparable with the levels reported in the literature for pituitary and brain tissue.