Journal
CLINICAL CHEMISTRY
Volume 57, Issue 10, Pages 1406-1414Publisher
AMER ASSOC CLINICAL CHEMISTRY
DOI: 10.1373/clinchem.2011.171777
Keywords
-
Categories
Funding
- National Institute on Drug Abuse, NIH
Ask authors/readers for more resources
BACKGROUND: Delta(9)-Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the most frequently observed illicit drug in investigations of accidents and driving under the influence of drugs. THC-glucuronide has been suggested as a marker of recent cannabis use, but there are no blood data following controlled THC administration to test this hypothesis. Furthermore, there are no studies directly examining whole-blood cannabinoid pharmacokinetics, although this matrix is often the only available specimen. METHODS: Participants (9 men, 1 woman) resided on a closed research unit and smoked one 6.8% THC cannabis cigarette ad libitum. We quantified THC, 11-hydroxy-THC (11-OH-THC), 11-nor-9-carboxy-THC (THCCOOH), cannabidiol (CBD), cannabinol (CBN), THC-glucuronide and THCCOOH-glucuronide directly in whole blood and plasma by liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry within 24 h of collection to obviate stability issues. RESULTS: Median whole blood (plasma) observed maximum concentrations (C-max) were 50 (76), 6.4 (10), 41 (67), 1.3 (2.0), 2.4 (3.6), 89 (190), and 0.7 (1.4) mu g/L 0.25 h after starting smoking for THC, 11-OH-THC, THCCOOH, CBD, CBN, and THCCOOH-glucuronide, respectively, and 0.5 h for THCglucuronide. At observed C-max, whole-blood (plasma) detection rates were 60% (80%), 80% (90%), and 50% (80%) for CBD, CBN, and THC-glucuronide, respectively. CBD and CBN were not detectable after 1 h in either matrix (LOQ 1.0 mu g/L). CONCLUSIONS: Human whole-blood cannabinoid data following cannabis smoking will assist whole blood and plasma cannabinoid interpretation, while furthering identification of recent cannabis intake. (C) 2011 American Association for Clinical Chemistry
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available