Transesterification of Indazole-3-carboxamide Synthetic Cannabinoids: Identification of Metabolite Biomarkers for Diagnosing Co-abuse of 5F-MDMB-PINACA and Alcohol

Concurrent use of alcohol with synthetic cannabinoids (SCs) has been widely recorded among drug abusers. The susceptibilities of three indazole-3-carboxamide type SCs with methyl ester moiety, 5F-MDMB-PINACA, 5F-MMB-PINACA, and MMB-FUBINACA, to transesterification in the presence of ethanol warranted further investigation in view of probable augmented toxicity. In vitro metabolite identification experiments were first performed using human liver microsomes (HLMs) to characterize the novel metabolites of the three parent SCs in the presence of ethanol. Formation of transesterified metabolite, hydrolyzed metabolite, and several oxidative metabolites in HLM in the presence of alcohol was further determined for each parent SC and the respective ethyl ester analog, 5F-EDMB-PINACA, 5F-EMB-PINACA, and EMB-FUBINACA, to quantitatively elucidate transesterification and hydrolysis activities. Our results suggested that all three SCs undergo carboxylesterase-mediated transesterification to their respective ethyl ester analog in the presence of ethanol, which was incubation time- and ethanol concentration-dependent. Each ethyl ester metabolite was sequentially and readily metabolized to novel oxidative metabolites with the intact ethyl ester moiety and the same hydrolyzed metabolite as derived from its parent SC. A smaller extent of transesterification was non-enzymatically driven. Notably, we proposed 5F-EDMB-PINACA oxidative defluorination metabolite as the biomarker for diagnosing the potential co-abuse of 5F-MDMB-PINACA and alcohol. Due to the comparable pharmacological activities between each SC and its ethyl ester metabolite, augmented toxicity associated with co-abuse of SCs and alcohol is probable and deserves further investigation.

Automated summary

Concurrent use of synthetic cannabinoids (SCs) and alcohol has been observed among drug abusers. This study investigated the susceptibility of three indazole-3-carboxamide type SCs to transesterification in the presence of ethanol, as well as its potential augmented toxicity. Results showed that all three SCs underwent transesterification to ethyl ester analogs in the presence of ethanol, which was time- and concentration-dependent. The co-abuse of SCs and alcohol could lead to increased toxicity and further research is warranted.