In vivo and in vitro formation of morphinone from morphine in rat.

1. Morphinone, a toxic metabolite, and its glutathione adduct (MO-GSH) were identified in the bile of rat after subcutaneous injection of morphine (25 mg/kg) by hplc procedures. The amounts of morphinone and MO-GSH excreted in the 12-h bile were 0.8 +/- 0.3 and 8.4 +/- 4.3% respectively. 2. The 9000 g supernatants of rat, guinea pig, rabbit, mouse, hamster and bovine livers produced morphinone from morphine in the presence of either NAD+ or NADP+, NAD+ was a more efficient cofactor than NADP+ except in the guinea pig which equally utilized both cofactors. With NAD+ as cofactor, the amounts of morphinone formed in rat and guinea pig were 5.70 and 5.82 mumol/g liver/30 min respectively and were three-to-four times those in other species. 3. The enzyme activity responsible for formation of morphinone from morphine in the rat was almost exclusively distributed in the microsomal fraction, whereas guinea pig, hamster and bovine expressed the enzyme activity mainly in the cytosolic fraction. Rabbit and mouse gave higher activity in the cytosolic and microsomal fractions respectively, but other fractions of both species contained considerable activity. 4. The enzyme activities in male and female rat microsomes were characterized with respect to developmental pattern, kinetic parameters, pH dependency and susceptibility to inhibitors. 5. In conclusion the metabolism of morphine to morphinone in rat was confirmed by in vivo and in vitro experiments. It is also suggested that this pathway is a common route in morphine metabolism in several mammalian species.