The study of historical documents: morphine in Bulgakov´s famous manuscript
Mikhail Bulgakov was a recognized
writer born in Kiev in 1891. His famous novel, The master and Margarita, criticizes the soviet society and the
literature establishment. He wrote the novel by the end of his life. In these
days, Bulgakov was suffering nephrosis that caused his death in 1940.
Researchers from Italy and Israel
have chemically evaluated the original manuscript of the novel with the
intention of identifying potential drugs consumed by Mikhail Bulgakov to fight
the nephrosis [1]. For this purpose, they have proposed a solid phase enrichment
protocol using cation exchange (SCX) and hydrophobic (C8) beads of different
particle sizes. In this proposal, wet beads are deposited on the manuscript
surface and thanks to the different sizes (SCX have larger sizes than C8) a
complete covering of the document with the particles is achieved. The targets
are extracted by a mixed-mode mechanism and after the extraction, the final
extracts are analyzed by GC/MS.
Morphine |
The results are astonishing.
Morphine (and a related metabolite) has been identified and even quantified in
the document, leading to the conclusion that Mikhail Bulgakov consumed this
drug, probably as pain reliever, while he wrote the novel. Concentrations ranged
between 5 to 100 ng/cm2 have been found in the document. The
deposition of the drug by the sweat is presented as the main hypothesis
although other alternatives are also considered.
Highly recommendable article!!,
especially for the History/literature/science enthusiasts.
Reference
1) Maestro, Marguerite, morphine:
The last years in the life of Mikhail Bulgakov. Link to the article
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