In vitro antioxidant properties of morphine

Morphine is implicated in diverse functions, from development to immune modulation in the central and peripheral nervous systems. It has also been used extensively in the clinical management of pain due to its potent analgesic effect. This study was designed to evaluate the in vitro antioxidant capacity of morphine using different antioxidant tests, including total antioxidant activity, reducing power, free radical scavenging, superoxide anion radical scavenging, hydrogen peroxide scavenging and metal chelating activities. Morphine exhibited strong total antioxidant activity. The concentrations of 25, 50 and 75 mug ml(-1) of morphine showed 79.1, 84.3 and 92.3% inhibition on peroxidation of linoleic acid emulsion, respectively. On the other hand, at 75 mug ml(-1) concentration of standard antioxidant, such as butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) and alpha-tocopherol, exhibited 88.7, 94.5 and 70.4% inhibition on peroxidation of linoleic acid emulsion, respectively. In addition, morphine had effective reducing power, free radical scavenging, superoxide anion radical scavenging, hydrogen peroxide scavenging and metal chelating activities at the same concentrations (25, 50 and 75 mug ml(-1)). These various antioxidant activities were compared to standard antioxidants such as BHA, BHT and alpha-tocopherol. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.