Quantification of Delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol and its major metabolites in meconium by gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric assay: assay validation and preliminary results of the "meconium project".
A rapid and simple procedure based on gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) is described for determination of Delta-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), 11-hydroxy-Delta-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC-OH) and 11-nor-Delta-tetrahydrocannabinol-9-carboxylic acid (THC-COOH) in meconium using Delta-tetrahydrocannabinol (Delta-THC) and deuterated THC-COOH as internal standards. The biological matrix was subjected to liquid-liquid extraction after enzyme hydrolysis for conjugated analytes.Chromatography was performed on a fused silica capillary column and analytes were determined in the selected-ion-monitoring (SIM) mode. The method was validated in the range 20 to 500 microg/g using 1g of meconium per assay. The method was applied to the analysis of meconium in a cohort of newborns to assess eventual fetal exposure to cannabis. Within positive samples, THC-COOH and THC-OH (range: 33.7 to 182.1 and 20.7 to 493.3 microg/g, respectively) were both present in the majority of cases with only 1 specimen with THC-OH as the most abundant metabolite and 2 with THC only.
Marchei
Emilia
E
Drug Research and Evaluation Department, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, V.le Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy.
Pellegrini
Manuela
M
Pacifici
Roberta
R
Palmi
Ilaria
I
Lozano
Jaime
J
García-Algar
Oscar
O
Pichini
Simona
S
D013759:Dronabinol / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008431:Maternal-Fetal Exchange; D008470:Meconium / Q000737:chemistry*; D011247:Pregnancy; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
D013759:Dronabinol