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Introduction/Objective Heroin is metabolized to 6-monoacetylmorphine (6-MAM) and morphine. The objective of this study is to examine 6-MAM, morphine, and codeine relationships in order to distinguish deaths related to heroin consumption from deaths related to morphine and/or codeine consumption. Methods The autopsy blood and urine samples from 45 opioid drug addicts were examined. Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry was applied to evaluate morphine, 6-MAM, and codeine. Two groups were formed: 6-MAM-positive (n = 35) and 6-MAM-negative (n = 10). Results Compared to the 6-MAM-negative group, blood morphine levels were higher in the 6-MAMpositive group (p = 0.022), while blood codeine levels were similar (p = 0.575). In the 6-MAM-negative group, the blood morphine/codeine ratio was 8.3, and it was 4.3 in the 6-MAM-positive group. There was no difference between the groups regarding urine morphine levels (p = 0.859). The urine morphine/codeine ratio was 6.2 in the 6-MAM-negative group, whilst it was 32.2 in the 6-MAM-positive group. In the blood samples, morphine and codeine concentrations were significantly correlated (r = 0.607; p = 0.006). In urine samples, correlations between morphine and codeine (r = 0.766; p < 0.001), morphine and 6-MAM (r = 0.650; p < 0.001), as well as codeine and 6-MAM (r = 0.620; p < 0.001), were also significant. Conclusion Analyses of 6-MAM and morphine/codeine ratio in blood and urine autopsy samples may be used as diagnostic tools to distinguish deaths related to the consumption of different opioid drugs.

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Newly synthetized derivative of bile acid, sodium salt of 3α, 7α-dihydroxy-12-oxo 5β cholanic acid (monoketocholanate) expressed a good characteristic as intranasal transport enhancer of xenobiotics.The aim of our sudy was to explore if it has an influence on bile metabolism and to measure its concentration in blood and bile after intravenous and intranasal administration. The experiment was performed in vivo on adult male Wistar rats. The determination of monoketocholanate (MKCh) in rats blood and bile, was carried out by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), on an HP ODS2 column, using methanol/acetonitrile/acetate buffer as mobile phase. Absorbances were measured at 210 nm.Blood samples were taken from the prepared right axillary artery in 0, 1, 5, 10, 20, 30, 60, 90, 120 and 180 minutes from the beginning of the experiment. Bile was collected in a half an hour intervals,during the three hour period. The results showed that MKCh changed the amount of excreted bile depending on the way of application. Intranasal application increased the bile volume and the MKCh concentration, both in blood and bile compared to the intravenous application (p<0.05). Distributionm of MKCh through animal organism depends on the way of application of the substance, which probably determines its caracterisation as the transport promotor of applied xenobiotics. HPLC has proved as aa relatively simple, fast and effective method for the determination of synthetic bile acid,MKCh in these biological materials. key words: bile acids and salts, HPLC method, intranasal and intravenous administration, rats