title: Impact of oral fluid collection device on cannabinoid stability following smoked cannabis.
abstract: 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 24 h in 16 separate pooled samples (collected 1 h before to 10.5 or 13 h after smoking). OF was collected with the StatSure Saliva Sampler™ and Oral-Eze® devices. Oral-Eze samples were re-analyzed after room temperature (RT) storage for 1 week, and for both devices after 4 °C for 1 and 4 weeks, and -20 °C for 4 and 24 weeks. 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 4 weeks), 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 24 weeks at -20 °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 4 weeks at 4 °C storage for Oral-Eze collection and within 4 weeks at 4 °C or 24 weeks at -20 °C for StatSure collection. Published 2014. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.
authors.affiliation: Chemistry and Drug Metabolism, Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, 251 Bayview Blvd, Suite 200, Baltimore, MD, 21224, USA.
authors.forename: Sébastien
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Anizan
authors.forename: Mateus M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Bergamaschi
authors.forename: Allan J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Barnes
authors.forename: Garry
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Milman
authors.forename: Nathalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Desrosiers
authors.forename: Dayong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Gorelick
authors.forename: Marilyn A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Huestis
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002185:Cannabidiol / Q000032:analysis; D002186:Cannabinoids / Q000032:analysis*; D002187:Cannabinol / Q000032:analysis; D002188:Cannabis / Q000737:chemistry*; D013759:Dronabinol / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000032:analysis; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D057230:Limit of Detection; D008385:Marijuana Smoking / Q000378:metabolism; D008875:Middle Aged; D012463:Saliva / Q000737:chemistry*; D013048:Specimen Handling / Q000295:instrumentation*; D015813:Substance Abuse Detection / Q000295:instrumentation*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D002186:Cannabinoids; D002185:Cannabidiol; C016780:11-nor-delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol-9-carboxylic acid; D013759:Dronabinol; D002187:Cannabinol
keywords: THC; cannabinoids; cannabis; oral fluid; stability