title: Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry analysis of urine specimens for K2 (JWH-018) metabolites.
abstract: Marijuana is the most widely used drug of abuse all over the world. The major active constituent of the drug is Δ⁹- tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ⁹-THC). Δ⁹-THC exerts its psychological activities by interacting with the cannabinoid receptors (CB₁ and CB₂) in the brain. JWH-018, HU-210, and CP-47497, with CB₁ agonist activity (similar to Δ⁹-THC), have been used by the drug culture to spike smokable herbal products to attain psychological effects similar to those obtained by smoking marijuana. The products spiked with these CB₁ agonists are commonly referred to as "Spice" or "K2". The most common compound used in these products is JWH-018 and related compounds (JWH-073 and JWH-250). Little work has been done on the detection of these synthetic cannabimimetic compounds in biological specimens. This report investigated the metabolism of JWH-018 by human liver microsomes, identification of the metabolites of JWH-018 in urine specimen of an individual who admitted use of the drug, and reports on the quantitation of three of its urinary metabolites, namely the 6-OH-, the N-alkyl OH (terminal hydroxyl)-, and the N-alkyl terminal carboxy metabolites using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The concentrations of these metabolites are determined in several forensic urine specimens.
authors.affiliation: ElSohly Laboratories, Inc., 5 Industrial Park Drive, Oxford, Mississippi 38655, USA.
authors.forename: Mahmoud A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: ElSohly
authors.forename: Waseem
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Gul
authors.forename: Kareem M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Elsohly
authors.forename: Timothy P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Murphy
authors.forename: Vamsi L M
authors.initials: VL
authors.lastname: Madgula
authors.forename: Shabana I
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Khan
mesh_terms: D001711:Biotransformation; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / Q000379:methods*; D053593:Forensic Toxicology / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007211:Indoles / Q000378:metabolism / Q000652:urine*; D057230:Limit of Detection; D008862:Microsomes, Liver / Q000378:metabolism*; D009281:Naphthalenes / Q000378:metabolism / Q000652:urine*; D012015:Reference Standards; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D015813:Substance Abuse Detection / Q000379:methods*; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D007211:Indoles; D009281:Naphthalenes; C568258:JWH-073; C552597:1-pentyl-3-(1-naphthoyl)indole