Abstract
Marijuana, which is made from crushing the leaves, flowers, and sometimes the stems of the plant Cannabis sativa, contains more than 30 cannabinoids. The major psychoactive cannabinoid is delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). The major metabolite of THC, 11-nor-delta 9-carboxy-tetrahydrocannabionol (THC-COOH), is excreted in the urine primarily as a glucuronide conjugate and is commonly analyzed in biological specimens for detecting marijuana usage. The procedure described here involves the addition of deuterated internal standard THC-COOH-d9 into the sample followed by hydrolysis of conjugated THC-COOH by alkali. THC-COOH is extracted from urine or blood using liquid–liquid extraction followed by preparation of its trimethylsilyl derivatives. The analysis of derivatized THC-COOH is performed using gas-chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Quantification of the drug in a sample is achieved by comparing the responses of the unknown sample to the responses of the calibrators using selected ion monitoring.
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We acknowledge the help of David Scott in preparing the figures.
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Frazee, C.C., Kiscoan, M., Garg, U. (2010). Quantitation of Total 11-Nor-9-Carboxy-Delta 9-Tetrahydrocannabinol in Urine and Blood Using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). In: Garg, U., Hammett-Stabler, C. (eds) Clinical Applications of Mass Spectrometry. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 603. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60761-459-3_13
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60761-459-3_13
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