Intestinal and Hepatic Morphine Glucuronidation in Immature and Pregnant Rats

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Abstract
The glucuronyl transferase activity was measured in the rat liver and intestinal microsomes during the neonatal development and pregnancy using 14C-morphine as substrate. During development the hepatic glucuronyl transferase activity increased 16- fold from day 1 after birth until a maximum of 9.97 nmol/min/mg on day 20. The enzyme activity in intestinal microsomes increased only 4-fold from day 1 to 0.19 nmol/min/mg on day 30. After the peak activities were reached, there was a continuous decrease in the glucuronyl transferase activities. During pregnancy the glucuronyl transferase activity increased significantly in the liver while no change was observed in the intestinal microsomal fraction.