Comparison of cannabinoid concentrations in oral fluid and whole blood between occasional and regular cannabis smokers prior to and after smoking a cannabis joint.

Publisher: Springer-Verlag Country of Publication: Germany NLM ID: 101134327 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1618-2650 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 16182642 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Anal Bioanal Chem Subsets: MEDLINE

Original Publication: Heidelberg : Springer-Verlag, 2002-

Marijuana Smoking*; Chromatography, Liquid/*methods ; Dronabinol/*blood ; Saliva/*chemistry ; Substance Abuse Detection/*methods; Adolescent ; Adult ; Cross-Over Studies ; Dronabinol/metabolism ; Dronabinol/pharmacokinetics ; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry ; Humans ; Male ; Tandem Mass Spectrometry ; Time Factors ; Tissue Distribution ; Young Adult

A cross-over controlled administration study of smoked cannabis was carried out on occasional and heavy smokers. The participants smoked a joint (11% Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)) or a matching placebo on two different occasions. Whole blood (WB) and oral fluid (OF) samples were collected before and up to 3.5 h after smoking the joints. Pharmacokinetic analyses were obtained from these data. Questionnaires assessing the subjective effects were administered to the subjects during each session before and after the smoking time period. THC, 11-hydroxy-THC (11-OH-THC) and 11-nor-9-carboxy-THC (THCCOOH) were analyzed in the blood by gas chromatography or liquid chromatography (LC)-tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS). The determination of THC, THCCOOH, cannabinol (CBN), and Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinolic acid A (THC-A) was carried out on OF only using LC-MS/MS. In line with the widely accepted assumption that cannabis smoking results in a strong contamination of the oral cavity, we found that THC, and also THC-A, shows a sharp, high concentration peak just after smoking, with a rapid decrease in these levels within 3 h. No obvious differences were found between both groups concerning THC median maximum concentrations measured either in blood or in OF; these levels were equal to 1,338 and 1,041 μg/L in OF and to 82 and 94 μg/L in WB for occasional and heavy smokers, respectively. The initial WB THCCOOH concentration was much higher in regular smokers than in occasional users. Compared with the occasional smokers, the sensation of confusion felt by the regular smokers was much less while the feeling of intoxication remained almost unchanged.

7J8897W37S (Dronabinol)

Date Created: 20131109 Date Completed: 20140627 Latest Revision: 20160512

20221213

10.1007/s00216-013-7412-1

24202191