Identification and Quantification of Cannabinoid Derivatives using LC-MS QTOF
Brandon Verno
Co-Presenters: Individual Presentation
College: The Dorothy and George Hennings College of Science, Mathematics and Technology
Major: Biotechnology (M.S.)
Faculty Research Mentor: Samip Bhattarai
Abstract:
Title: Identification and Quantification of Cannabinoid Derivatives using LC-MS QTOFAuthor: Brandon Verno, School of Integrative Science and Technology, Dorothy and George Hennings College of Science, Mathematics and Technology, Kean UniversityABSTRACTWithin the United States of America, drugs have a versatile range of uses including research to investigate specific questions, medical situations to treat symptoms of a disease, or recreational purposes to experience certain physiological effects. One of the most common classes of drugs is cannabinoids, commonly known as marijuana. Cannabinoids derive from the plant Cannabis sativa where components such as tetrahydrocannabinol, make up the plant (Hesami, 2020). Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) has a multitude of effects which have been used in chronic pain management, treatment of anxiety, and stimulation of appetite. Despite these attributes, THC does have psychoactive properties including confusion, impaired judgment, slow reaction times, euphoria, hallucinations, and psychotic episodes (Spinella, 2023). Because of this, the federal government of the United States has classified marijuana-derived compounds as Schedule 1 drugs due to high potential for abuse (DEA, 2018). Because of the widespread use of cannabinoids in the USA, it is crucial to identify and quantify different isomers of THC.Knowing this compound's qualitative and quantitative characteristics can provide valuable information in a wide range of scenarios such as workplace, school, medical, and research settings. This project aims to utilize liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) to quantify THCCOOH. THCCOOH will be extracted from urine samples where different LC-MS methods will be developed to identify and quantify this compound accurately but quickly.When extracting THCCOOH from urine and analyzing through LC-MS. The LC-MS method was validated based on the data. This included calibration curves comparing the known and calculated concentrations from LC-MS, analyte/internal standard ratio and standards, and calculation of the standard deviation and coefficient of variance to observe any deviations within the obtained results.This research shows that the development of the quick LC-MS when extracting THC from urine, was able to balance speed and accuracy when detecting specific peaks. Future directions will aim to separate different strains of cannabinoids that may have less or more potent effects on a person.