Impact of oral fluid collection device on cannabinoid stability following smoked cannabis

Evaluation of cannabinoid stability in authentic oral fluid (OF) is critical, as most OF stability studies employed fortified or synthetic OF. Participants (n=16) smoked a 6.8% delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) cigarette, and baseline concentrations of THC, 11-nor-9-carboxy-THC (THCCOOH), cannabidiol (CBD), and cannabinol (CBN) were determined within 24h in 16 separate pooled samples (collected 1h before to 10.5 or 13h after smoking). OF was collected with the StatSure Saliva Sampler and Oral-Eze (R) devices. Oral-Eze samples were re-analyzed after room temperature (RT) storage for 1week, and for both devices after 4 degrees C for 1 and 4weeks, and -20 degrees C for 4 and 24weeks. Concentrations +/- 20% from initial concentrations were considered stable. With the StatSure device, all cannabinoids were within 80-120% median %baseline for all storage conditions. Individual THC, CBD, CBN and THCCOOH pool concentrations were stable in 100%, 100%, 80-94% and >85%, respectively, across storage conditions. With the Oral-Eze device, at RT or refrigerated storage (for 1 and 4weeks), THC, CBD and THCCOOH were stable in 94-100%, 78-89%, and 93-100% of samples, respectively, while CBN concentrations were 53-79% stable. However, after 24weeks at -20 degrees C, stability decreased, especially for CBD, with a median of 56% stability. Overall, the collection devices' elution/stabilizing buffers provided good stability for OF cannabinoids, with the exception of the more labile CBN. To ensure OF cannabinoid concentration accuracy, these data suggest analysis within 4weeks at 4 degrees C storage for Oral-Eze collection and within 4weeks at 4 degrees C or 24weeks at -20 degrees C for StatSure collection. Published 2014. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.