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Development of Quantification Method and Stability of ${\Delta}^9$-Tetrahydrocannabinol and 11-Nor-9-carboxy-${\Delta}^9$-Tetrahydrocannabinol in Oral Fluid  

Choi, Hye-Young (Narcotics Analysis Division, National Institute of Scientific Investigation)
Baeck, Seung-Kyung (Narcotics Analysis Division, National Institute of Scientific Investigation)
Jang, Moon-Hee (Narcotics Analysis Division, National Institute of Scientific Investigation)
Choi, Hwa-Kyung (Narcotics Analysis Division, National Institute of Scientific Investigation)
Chung, Hee-Sun (Narcotics Analysis Division, National Institute of Scientific Investigation)
Publication Information
YAKHAK HOEJI / v.54, no.4, 2010 , pp. 226-231 More about this Journal
Abstract
Oral fluid has become increasingly popular as an alternative specimen in the field of driving under the influence of drugs (DUID) and work place drug testing. In this study, an analytical method for the detection and quantification of ${\Delta}^9$-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and its metabolite, 11-nor-9-carboxy-${\Delta}^9$-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC-COOH) in oral fluid by SPE and GC-MS was established and fully validated. The stability of THC and THC-COOH in oral fluid during storage was also determined by examining the THC and THC-COOH concentration changes depending on time and container materials. Oral fluid samples were kept over 21 days at room temperature, $-4^{\circ}C$ and $-20^{\circ}C$ in two different specimen collection tubes; glass and polypropylene tubes. Three replicates for each condition with different temperature and types of a container were analyzed at five different time points over 21 days. When oral fluid samples were stored in glass tubes, the loss of both THC and THC-COOH was less than 10% at all room temperature, $-4^{\circ}C$ and $-20^{\circ}C$. However, in polypropylene tubes, the loss of both THC and THC-COOH increased significantly over the study period. In particular, the concentration of THC decreased more rapidly than that of THC-COOH at room temperature and the maximal percentage of THC lost was 90.3% after 21 days. The result indicates that it would be necessary to collect oral fluid samples in glass containers and cool the samples until analysis in order to prevent the degradation of analytes.
Keywords
oral fluid; stability; driving under the influence of drugs (DUID); cannabis; THC; solid phase extraction (SPE); GC-MS;
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