The opiate morphine (MOR) and codeine (COD) are found in natural poppy products of papaveris pericarpium, which is the principal active component in many traditional Chinese medicines for treating cough. Despite its long history of use, little is known about the pharmacokinetics (PKs) of papaveris pericarpium, which are important parameters for understanding its clinic safety and efficacy. Herein we report the first PK study in humans following its use in the form of a traditional Chinese medicine called Qiangli Pipa Syrup by studying concentrations of MOR and COD in plasma and urine. …show more content…
Papaveris Pericarpium is a common component in many traditional Chinese medicines, which are used as cough suppressant. As the major active agents, MOR and COD suppress coughs by acting at a cough center in the central nervous system.4 However, due to the relatively ubiquitous use of Papaveris Pericarpium in traditional Chinese medicines, its clinic safety has attractive significant attention for MOR and COD related toxicities. For example, MOR has a high potential for addiction, and its tolerability develops rapidly by frequent administration. In addition, MOR and COD have several severe side effects, such as nausea and vomiting, pruritus, constipation, urinary retention, respiratory depression, etc.5-7 Therefore, to comprehensive understanding its clinical efficacy, tolerability and toxicity, systematic pharmacokinetic (PK) studies of MOR and COD in humans need to be carried out after administration of Papaveris Pericarpium containing medicines. While the PKs of pure MOR and COD have been extensively studied,8-14 simultaneously monitoring MOR and COD in plasma after administration of poppy products is reported only sparsely,15 and to the best our knowledge, no information is available on PK parameters of poppy containing traditional Chinese medicines in …show more content…
The main active components of MOR and COD in plasma and urine were quantified by a validated high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) method. The PK parameters of each component was obtained and compared after different oral dosages. Multiple-dose studies were performed to explore the drug accumulation, and urine drugs were also analyzed to evaluate its possible response in opiates test. Our studies have broad implications for the efficacy and safety of Papaveris Pericarpium containing traditional Chinese medicines, and the results may guide their clinic use and judicial expertise in the