Ryan B Paulsen, G Neil Stowe, Michael I Schaffer, Nickolaus Krohn
{"title":"Analysis of (-)-11-nor-9-carboxy-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol and (-)-11-nor-9-carboxy-Δ8-tetrahydrocannabinol in hair from a school-age population.","authors":"Ryan B Paulsen, G Neil Stowe, Michael I Schaffer, Nickolaus Krohn","doi":"10.1093/jat/bkaf020","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>A sensitive liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method for the detection of (-)-11-nor-9-carboxy-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol and (-)-11-nor-9-carboxy-Δ8-tetrahydrocannabinol in hair with a cutoff of 1 pg/10 mg of hair and a limit of quantitation of 0.2 pg/10 mg of hair for both analytes was developed and is herein described. A subset of samples collected from a school-age population between December 2022 and February 2023 was analyzed using this method after having screened presumptive positive by enzyme immunoassay out of a total pool of approximately 5300 samples. Of these presumptive positive samples, 66% showed the presence of one or both analytes at a concentration ≥1 pg/10 mg of hair. Of the 213 positive samples, 57% contained more (-)-11-nor-9-carboxy-Δ8-tetrahydrocannabinol than (-)-11-nor-9-carboxy-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol and 6% contained more than 50-fold higher Δ8 isomer than Δ9 isomer. Of the 197 samples that were reportable for (-)-11-nor-9-carboxy-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol ≥1 pg/10 mg cutoff, 53% of them contained more (-)-11-nor-9-carboxy-Δ8-tetrahydrocannabinol than (-)-11-nor-9-carboxy-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol. Of the 197 samples that were reportable for (-)-11-nor-9-carboxy-Δ8-tetrahydrocannabinol ≥1 pg/10 mg cutoff, 15.7% exceeded the upper limit of linearity of the method (200 pg/10 mg). These results suggest a high level of (-)-Δ8-tetrahydrocannabinol usage in this population relative to (-)-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol usage. They further suggest the possibility that (-)-11-nor-9-carboxy-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol reported for some of these samples may only have been present due to (-)-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol contamination of (-)-Δ8-tetrahydrocannabinol products being consumed in large quantities. Thus, reported results for (-)-11-nor-9-carboxy-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol alone may give a false picture of the extent of the cannabis product being consumed by a test subject.</p>","PeriodicalId":14905,"journal":{"name":"Journal of analytical toxicology","volume":" ","pages":"224-230"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3000,"publicationDate":"2025-04-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of analytical toxicology","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1093/jat/bkaf020","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"CHEMISTRY, ANALYTICAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
A sensitive liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method for the detection of (-)-11-nor-9-carboxy-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol and (-)-11-nor-9-carboxy-Δ8-tetrahydrocannabinol in hair with a cutoff of 1 pg/10 mg of hair and a limit of quantitation of 0.2 pg/10 mg of hair for both analytes was developed and is herein described. A subset of samples collected from a school-age population between December 2022 and February 2023 was analyzed using this method after having screened presumptive positive by enzyme immunoassay out of a total pool of approximately 5300 samples. Of these presumptive positive samples, 66% showed the presence of one or both analytes at a concentration ≥1 pg/10 mg of hair. Of the 213 positive samples, 57% contained more (-)-11-nor-9-carboxy-Δ8-tetrahydrocannabinol than (-)-11-nor-9-carboxy-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol and 6% contained more than 50-fold higher Δ8 isomer than Δ9 isomer. Of the 197 samples that were reportable for (-)-11-nor-9-carboxy-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol ≥1 pg/10 mg cutoff, 53% of them contained more (-)-11-nor-9-carboxy-Δ8-tetrahydrocannabinol than (-)-11-nor-9-carboxy-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol. Of the 197 samples that were reportable for (-)-11-nor-9-carboxy-Δ8-tetrahydrocannabinol ≥1 pg/10 mg cutoff, 15.7% exceeded the upper limit of linearity of the method (200 pg/10 mg). These results suggest a high level of (-)-Δ8-tetrahydrocannabinol usage in this population relative to (-)-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol usage. They further suggest the possibility that (-)-11-nor-9-carboxy-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol reported for some of these samples may only have been present due to (-)-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol contamination of (-)-Δ8-tetrahydrocannabinol products being consumed in large quantities. Thus, reported results for (-)-11-nor-9-carboxy-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol alone may give a false picture of the extent of the cannabis product being consumed by a test subject.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Analytical Toxicology (JAT) is an international toxicology journal devoted to the timely dissemination of scientific communications concerning potentially toxic substances and drug identification, isolation, and quantitation.
Since its inception in 1977, the Journal of Analytical Toxicology has striven to present state-of-the-art techniques used in toxicology labs. The peer-review process provided by the distinguished members of the Editorial Advisory Board ensures the high-quality and integrity of articles published in the Journal of Analytical Toxicology. Timely presentation of the latest toxicology developments is ensured through Technical Notes, Case Reports, and Letters to the Editor.