Human Bodies Make Their Own Morphine
Christine Dell'Amore
National Geographic News
Our bodies produce üretmek a small but steady istikrar amount miktar of natural morphine morfin, a new study suggests.
Traces iz of the chemical are often found in mouse and human urine idrar, leading scientists to wonder merak etmek whether the drug is being made naturally or being delivered by something the subjects consumed tüketmek.
The new research shows that mice produce the "incredible painkiller ağrı kesici"—and that humans and other mammals possess sahip olmak the same chemical road map for making it, said study co-author Meinhart Zenk, who studies plant-based pharmaceuticals at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis, Missouri.
In the study, researchers injected mice with an extra dose of a natural brain chemical called tetrahydropapaveroline (THP), which humans and mice are known to produce.
Using a tool called a mass spectrometer to analyze the mouse urine, the team was able to tell that THP underwent maruz kalmak chemical changes in the body that created morphine, according to the study, published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
What's more, the study found that mouse morphine is produced in nearly the same way as the morphine in poppies afyon—the only morphine-making plants known to science.
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