Cannabidiol (CBD) and Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) are two cannabinoids from cannabis that are of increasing medical interest to professional public. The main aim of master’s thesis was to develop a method for quantitation of CBD, THC, 11-hydroxy-THC (THC-OH) and 11-carboxy-THC (THC-COOH) in human blood plasma, which would be fit for purpose of a clinical study studying treatment of refractory epilepsy in children.
During method development we tested 5 different liquid-liquid extractions, 18 kinds of solid phase extractions, 1 filter and 2 supported liquid extractions. The most optimal was liquid-liquid extraction with hexane and ethyl acetate in 9 to 1 ratio. LC-MS/MS method was developed with liquid chromatograph with tandem triple quadrupole mass spectrometer. Chromatographic separation was achieved on Kinetex C18 column (50 mm × 2.1 mm, 2.6 μm) using a gradient comprising of 0.2 mM ammonium fluoride and acetonitrile. Calibration curves were prepared with eight calibrators 1–100 μg/L for THC and 6–100 μg/L for THC-OH and with ten calibrators 1–1000 μg/L for CBD and 2.5–1000 μg/L for THC-COOH. Isotopically labeled analogs were used as internal standards: CBD d3, THC-d3 and THC-COOH-d3. To prove method selectivity we tried to prepare in vitro CBD metabolites, especially commercially unavailable 7-carboxy-CBD, with liver S9 fraction. Method was evaluated according to the guidelines for validation of bioanalytical methods.
Accuracy and precision for CBD, THC in THC-COOH were between 88–110 % and 1.1–8.1 % and for THC-OH between 97–117 % and 2.0–15.8 %. Accurate and precise dilution integrity was up to 5 times the upper limit of quantification. Sample stability was proven for 17 days at –80 °C, three freeze and thaw cycles, four hours at room temperature and 36 hours in autosampler at 10 °C. Absence of relative matrix effect was proven for CBD, THC and THC-COOH.
The method developed for the purpose of the clinical study allows the measurements of plasma CBD from 1 to 5000 μg/L, THC from 1 to 500 μg/L, THC-COOH from 2.5 to 5000 μg/L and THC-OH from 6 to 500 μg/L.
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