Preliminary Evaluation of a Latex Agglutination-Inhibition Tube Test for Morphine

[摘要] We evaluated a new 2-hour latex agglutination-inhibition tube test, designed to detect a minimum of 200 ng of morphine (or structurally related compounds) per milliliter of either serum or urine. It was compared with a more sensitive radioimmunoassay procedure, by use of 159 addict urines (radioimmunoassay-positive) and 506 selected (radioimmunoassay-negative) urines. Our results were negative for 99.6% of the radioimmunoassay-negative specimens, including many from addicts taking several drugs other than opiates, and for 94.3% (33 of 35) of radioimmunoassay-positive specimens from addicts, containing only 40-99 ng (morphine equivalents) per milliliter. Positive test results were recorded for 108 of 110 specimens containing 200 or more nanograms (morphine equivalents) per milliliter. The test is technically and instrumentally simple and has a clearcut negative endpoint. Because glucuronide-conjugated morphine is readily detected, this test can be used before chromatography to eliminate those specimens that have no significant concentrations of narcotics (i.e., give a negative latex tube test) and thus obviate timeconsuming hydrolysis before chromatography.

[学科分类] 过敏症与临床免疫学