Abstract
The nalorphine (pupil) test for narcotic abuse is widely used in California. It is based on the ability of nalorphine to produce mydriasis in subjects who have recently taken morphine-like drugs and to produce miosis in others. The test will usually detect as little as 15 mg of morphine or comparable doses of other narcotics for several hours except in special circumstances. It is even more reliable for detection of chronic use of narcotics. A simple card pupillometer is adequate for measuring changes in pupil size resulting from nalorphine.
Analysis for narcotics in urine by thin layer chromatography is also used, either alone or in conjunction with the pupil test, to detect drug abuse. In one study which included many urine speciments from subjects who had negative pupil tests the correlation between the pupil test and urinalysis was good (85 percent). When urinalysis was used to confirm suspicion of drug use resulting from a positive or equivocal pupil test, inter-method agreement dropped to about 50 percent for various reasons. Even so, use of the pupil test for screening and urinalysis for confirmation provides a satisfactory program for detection of narcotic abuse.
Full text
PDF
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- BRAUMOELLER F. L., TERRY J. G. Nalline: an aid in detecting narcotic users. Calif Med. 1956 Nov;85(5):299–301. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Davidow B., Li Petri N., Quame B., Searle B., Fastlich E., Savitzky J. A thin-layer chromatographic screening test for the detection of users of morphine or heroin. Am J Clin Pathol. 1966 Jul;46(1):58–62. doi: 10.1093/ajcp/46.1.58. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- ELLIOT H. W., WAY E. L. Effect of narcotic antagonists on the pupil diameter of nonaddicts. Clin Pharmacol Ther. 1961 Nov-Dec;2:713–721. doi: 10.1002/cpt196126713. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- ELLIOTT H. W., NOMOF N., PARKER K., DEWEY M. L., WAY E. L. COMPARISON OF THE NALORPHINE TEST AND URINARY ANALYSIS IN THE DETECTION OF NARCOTIC USE. Clin Pharmacol Ther. 1964 Jul-Aug;5:405–413. doi: 10.1002/cpt196454405. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Elliott H. W., Nomof N., Parker K. D. Correlation of the nalorphine test with concentration of metabolites of codeine in the urine after single doses and continuous administration of codeine. Clin Pharmacol Ther. 1967 Jan-Feb;8(1):78–85. doi: 10.1002/cpt196781part178. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Parker K. D., Hine C. H. Manual for the determination of narcotics and dangerous drugs in the urine. Psychopharmacol Bull. 1966 Jul;3(3):18–42. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Parker K. D., Hine C. H., Nomof N., Elliott H. W. Urine screening techniques employed in the detection of users of narcotics and their correlation with the nalorphine test. J Forensic Sci. 1966 Apr;11(2):152–166. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Way E. L., Mo B. P., Quock C. P. Evaluation of the nalorphine pupil diagnostic test for narcotic usage in long-term heroin and opium addicts. Clin Pharmacol Ther. 1966 May-Jun;7(3):300–311. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]