TY - JOUR
T1 - Quantification of cannabinoids and their free and glucuronide metabolites in whole blood by disposable pipette extraction and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry
AU - Scheidweiler, Karl B.
AU - Newmeyer, Matthew N.
AU - Barnes, Allan J.
AU - Huestis, Marilyn A.
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by the Intramural Research Program of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health . MNN acknowledges the Graduate Partnership Program, NIH. The authors thank William E. Brewer (DPX Laboratories) for his technical assistance.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016.
PY - 2016/7/1
Y1 - 2016/7/1
N2 - Identifying recent cannabis intake is confounded by prolonged cannabinoid excretion in chronic frequent cannabis users. We previously observed detection times ≤2.1 h for cannabidiol (CBD) and cannabinol (CBN) and δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)-glucuronide in whole blood after smoking, suggesting their applicability for identifying recent intake. However, whole blood collection may not occur for up to 4 h during driving under the influence of drugs investigations, making a recent-use marker with a 6-8 h detection window helpful for improving whole blood cannabinoid interpretation. Other minor cannabinoids cannabigerol (CBG), δ9-tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCV), and its metabolite 11-nor-9-carboxy-THCV (THCVCOOH) might also be useful. We developed and validated a sensitive and specific liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method for quantification of THC, its phase I and glucuronide phase II metabolites, and 5 five minor cannabinoids. Cannabinoids were extracted from 200 μL whole blood via disposable pipette extraction, separated on a C18 column, and detected via electrospray ionization in negative mode with scheduled multiple reaction mass spectrometric monitoring. Linear ranges were 0.5-100 μg/L for THC and 11-nor-9-carboxy-THC (THCCOOH); 0.5-50 μg/L for 11-hydroxy-THC (11-OH-THC), CBD, CBN, and THC-glucuronide; 1-50 μg/L for CBG, THCV, and THCVCOOH; and 5-500 μg/L for THCCOOH-glucuronide. Inter-day accuracy and precision at low, mid and high quality control (QC) concentrations were 95.1-113% and 2.4-8.5%, respectively (n = 25). Extraction recoveries and matrix effects at low and high QC concentrations were 54.0-84.4% and -25.8-30.6%, respectively. By simultaneously monitoring multiple cannabinoids and metabolites, identification of recent cannabis administration or discrimination between licit medicinal and illicit recreational cannabis use can be improved.
AB - Identifying recent cannabis intake is confounded by prolonged cannabinoid excretion in chronic frequent cannabis users. We previously observed detection times ≤2.1 h for cannabidiol (CBD) and cannabinol (CBN) and δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)-glucuronide in whole blood after smoking, suggesting their applicability for identifying recent intake. However, whole blood collection may not occur for up to 4 h during driving under the influence of drugs investigations, making a recent-use marker with a 6-8 h detection window helpful for improving whole blood cannabinoid interpretation. Other minor cannabinoids cannabigerol (CBG), δ9-tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCV), and its metabolite 11-nor-9-carboxy-THCV (THCVCOOH) might also be useful. We developed and validated a sensitive and specific liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method for quantification of THC, its phase I and glucuronide phase II metabolites, and 5 five minor cannabinoids. Cannabinoids were extracted from 200 μL whole blood via disposable pipette extraction, separated on a C18 column, and detected via electrospray ionization in negative mode with scheduled multiple reaction mass spectrometric monitoring. Linear ranges were 0.5-100 μg/L for THC and 11-nor-9-carboxy-THC (THCCOOH); 0.5-50 μg/L for 11-hydroxy-THC (11-OH-THC), CBD, CBN, and THC-glucuronide; 1-50 μg/L for CBG, THCV, and THCVCOOH; and 5-500 μg/L for THCCOOH-glucuronide. Inter-day accuracy and precision at low, mid and high quality control (QC) concentrations were 95.1-113% and 2.4-8.5%, respectively (n = 25). Extraction recoveries and matrix effects at low and high QC concentrations were 54.0-84.4% and -25.8-30.6%, respectively. By simultaneously monitoring multiple cannabinoids and metabolites, identification of recent cannabis administration or discrimination between licit medicinal and illicit recreational cannabis use can be improved.
KW - Cannabinoids
KW - Disposable pipette extraction
KW - Recent use markers
KW - Whole blood
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U2 - 10.1016/j.chroma.2016.05.024
DO - 10.1016/j.chroma.2016.05.024
M3 - Article
C2 - 27236483
AN - SCOPUS:84969667974
SN - 0021-9673
VL - 1453
SP - 34
EP - 42
JO - Journal of Chromatography A
JF - Journal of Chromatography A
ER -