Development and validation of a method for the quantitation of Delta9 tetrahydrocannabinol in human plasma by high performance liquid chromatography after solid-phase extraction

J Pharm Biomed Anal. 2006 Jun 7;41(3):1011-6. doi: 10.1016/j.jpba.2006.01.017. Epub 2006 Feb 24.

Abstract

A high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) procedure for the determination of Delta9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in human plasma is described. A two-step solid-phase extraction on CN cartridges was coupled with a reversed phase HPLC system. THC was eluted using a mobile phase composed of methanol, acetonitrile and tetrabutylammonium perchlorate solution (0.005 M, pH 3.2), through a C18 Nucleosil column and detected at a wavelength of 215 nm. Calibration curve was linear over the range 5-100 ng/ml with a lower limit of quantification validated at 5 ng/ml. Extraction recovery using the developed extraction procedure was higher than 85%. This method is presently used for the quantification of THC in plasma samples from regular cannabis smokers.

Publication types

  • Validation Study

MeSH terms

  • Calibration
  • Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / methods*
  • Dronabinol / blood*
  • Humans
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet

Substances

  • Dronabinol