Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Sep 2;26(17):5334.
doi: 10.3390/molecules26175334.

Analysis of Cannabinoids and Metabolites in Dried Urine Spots (DUS)

Matteo Moretti  1 , Francesca Freni  1 , Claudia Carelli  1 , Carlo Previderé  1 , Pierangela Grignani  1 , Claudia Vignali  1 , Maria Cobo-Golpe  2 , Luca Morini  1
Affiliations

Analysis of Cannabinoids and Metabolites in Dried Urine Spots (DUS)

Matteo Moretti et al. Molecules. .

Abstract

Dried urine spots (DUS) represent a potential alternative sample storage for forensic toxicological analysis. The aim of the current study was to develop and validate a liquid chromatographic tandem mass spectrometric procedure for the detection and quantitative determination of cannabinoids and metabolites in DUS. A two-step extraction was performed on DUS and urine samples. An LC-MS/MS system was operated in multiple reaction monitoring and positive polarization mode. The method was checked for sensitivity, specificity, linearity, accuracy, precision, recovery, matrix effects and carryover. The method was applied to 70 urine samples collected from healthy volunteers and drug addicts undergoing withdrawal treatment. The method was successfully developed for DUS. LODs lower than 2.0 ng/mL were obtained for all the monitored substances. All the validation parameters fulfilled the acceptance criteria either for DUS or urine. Among the real samples, 45 cases provided positive results for at least one compound. A good quali-quantitative agreement was obtained between DUS and urine. A good stability of THC, THCCOOH and THCCOOH-gluc was observed after a 24 h storage, in contrast to previously published results. DUS seems to provide a good alternative storage condition for urine that should be checked for the presence of cannabinoids and metabolites.

Keywords: LC-MS/MS; THC; THCCOOH; THCCOOH-gluc; cannabinoids; dried urine spots.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Comparison between urine and DUS concentrations of THC.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Comparison between urine and DUS concentrations of THCCOOH.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Comparison between urine and DUS concentrations of THCCOOH-gluc.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Bland–Altman plot for the results obtained from Whatman™ 903 card, in comparison to the data measured in liquid urine for THC.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Bland–Altman plot for the results obtained from Whatman™ 903 card, in comparison to the data measured in liquid urine for THCCOOH.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Bland–Altman plot for the results obtained from Whatman™ 903 card, in comparison to the data measured in liquid urine for THCCOOH-gluc.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Velghe S., Troyer R.D., Stove C. Dried Blood Spots in Therapeutic Drug Monitoring and Toxicology. Expert Opin. Drug Metab. Toxicol. 2018;14:1–3. doi: 10.1080/17425255.2018.1414181. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Moretti M., Freni F., Tomaciello I., Vignali C., Groppi A., Visonà S.D., Tajana L., Osculati A.M.M., Morini L. Determination of Benzodiazepines in Blood and in Dried Blood Spots Collected from Post-Mortem Samples and Evaluation of the Stability over a Three-Month Period. Drug Test. Anal. 2019;11:1403–1411. doi: 10.1002/dta.2653. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Moretti M., Freni F., Valentini B., Vignali C., Groppi A., Visonà S.D., Osculati A.M.M., Morini L. Determination of Antidepressants and Antipsychotics in Dried Blood Spots (DBSs) Collected from Post-Mortem Samples and Evaluation of the Stability over a Three-Month Period. Molecules. 2019;24:3636. doi: 10.3390/molecules24203636. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Moretti M., Visonà S.D., Freni F., Tomaciello I., Vignali C., Groppi A., Tajana L., Osculati A.M.M., Morini L. A Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry Method for the Determination of Cocaine and Metabolites in Blood and in Dried Blood Spots Collected from Postmortem Samples and Evaluation of the Stability over a 3-Month Period. Drug Test. Anal. 2018;10:1430–1437. doi: 10.1002/dta.2399. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Moretti M., Manfredi A., Freni F., Previderé C., Osculati A.M.M., Grignani P., Tronconi L., Carelli C., Vignali C., Morini L. A Comparison between Two Different Dried Blood Substrates in Determination of Psychoactive Substances in Postmortem Samples. Forensic Toxicol. 2021;39:385–393. doi: 10.1007/s11419-020-00567-2. - DOI - PMC - PubMed