Development and validation of a qualitative GC-MS method for THCCOOH in urine using injection-port derivatization

Cannabis is one of the most abused drugs in Korea. The main psychoactive component in cannabis, Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol, is metabolized to 11-nor-9-carboxy-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THCCOOH) and THCCOOH-glucuronide (THCCOOH-glu) in the human liver, whereby the amount of THCCOOH-glu found in urine is twice as high as that of THCCOOH. The analytical process adapted by the majority of urine drug-testing programs involves a two-step method consisting of an initial immunoassay-based screening test followed by a confirmatory test if the screening test result is positive. In this study, a qualitative gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method was developed and validated for the detection of THCCOOH in human urine, where THCCOOH-glu was converted into THCCOOH by alkaline hydrolysis. For purification of the urine extract prior to instrumental analysis, high-speed centrifugation was used to minimize interference. In addition, an injection-port derivatization method using ethyl acetate and N,O-bis(trimethylsilyl)-trifluoroacetamide containing 1 % trimethylchlorosilane was employed to reduce the time required for derivatization, and an aliquot of the final solution was injected into the GC-MS. The method was validated by measuring the selectivity, limit of detection (LOD), and repeatability. The sensitivity, specificity, precision, accuracy, Kappa, F-measure, false positive, and false negative rate were determined by comparing the GC-MS results with those obtained using the immunoassay. The LOD was determined to be 0.32 ng/mL, while the repeatability was within 9.1 % for THCCOOH. Furthermore, a comparison study was carried out, whereby the screening immunoassay exhibited a sensitivity of 86.4 % and a specificity of 100 % compared to GC-MS. The applicability of the developed method was examined by analyzing spiked urine and forensic urine samples obtained from suspected cannabis abusers (n = 221).