Clinical Chemistry, Vol 24, 339-342, Copyright © 1978 by American Association for Clinical Chemistry

Solid-phase radioimmunoassay for morphine, with use of an affinity- purified morphine antibody

M Steiner and JL Spratt

Morphine antibody purified by affinity chromatography was used to develop a solid-phase radioimmunoassay for morphine in polystyrene tubes. The tubes are coated with an appropriate concentration of the purified antibody, rinsed three times with buffered saline, and stored at -15 degrees C. Using tritiated dihydromorphine, we determined competitive morphine binding by difference when the radioactivity in the assay supernates was measured after incubation (1 h, 37 degrees C). Five standard curves, with use of serum equivalents of morphine ranging from 0 to 6 mug/liter, were linear and had a mean correlation coefficient of 0.98. Uncer conditions of the assay, levorphanol was comparable to morphine in its inhibitory effect on binding of labeled dihydromorphine, whereas dextrorphan was essentially inactive. Morphine- 3-glucuronide, a major metabolite, is 55-fold less inhibitory in terms of its capacity to displace the radiolabel. We believe that the sensitivity of the technique, coupled with the simplicity of nonseparatory sampling, renders the system suitable for rapid determination of morphine and related compounds in biological fluids.