Determination of AM-2201 metabolites in urine and comparison with JWH-018 abuse

Abstract

With respect to the continuous emergence of new synthetic cannabinoids on the market since 2008, evaluation of the metabolism of these compounds and the development of analytical methods for the detection of these drugs including their respective metabolites in biological fluids have become essential. Other than JWH-018 or JWH-073, AM-2201 is one of the frequently identified synthetic cannabinoids in Korea. Recently, in our laboratory, several JWH-018 metabolites have been detected in some urine samples obtained from subjects who were arrested for the possession of herbal mixtures containing only AM-2201 or from those who confessed AM-2201 abuse. In the present study, we identified major urinary metabolites of AM-2201 and several metabolites of JWH-018, i.e., N-5-hydroxylated and carboxylated metabolites from rats administered AM-2201 and found that the metabolic profile in rats was similar to those in human subjects in this study. Analytical results of the urine samples from suspects who had a considerable possibility of AM-2201 or JWH-018 intake were also compared to distinguish between AM-2201 and JWH-018 abuse. The presence of 6-indole hydroxylated metabolites of each drug and N-4-hydroxy metabolite of AM-2201 was found to contribute to the decisive differences in the metabolic patterns of the two drugs. In addition, the concentration ratio of the N-(5-hydroxypentyl) metabolite to the N-(4-hydroxypentyl) metabolite of JWH-018 may be used as a criterion to differentiate between AM-2201 and JWH-018 abuse.

Simultaneous quantification of 37 synthetic cannabinoid metabolites in human urine by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

“…Previous studies have shown that fluorinated synthetic cannabinoids produce the same metabolites as those of their non-fluoro analogues through hydroxylation and carboxylation [24,25]. Furthermore, our research group concluded that the concentration ratio of N-hydroxylated metabolites is a key factor for distinguishing the abuse of these drugs, especially because the availability of reference standards is limited [26,27]. Because N-hydroxylated metabolites share the same ion transitions, careful column separation is required to quantify respective metabolites.…”

“…Because N-hydroxylated metabolites share the same ion transitions, careful column separation is required to quantify respective metabolites. However, baseline chromatographic separation of N-hydroxylated metabolites has been achieved in only a few studies [25][26][27].…”

Identification of New Synthetic Cannabinoid ADB-CHMINACA (MAB-CHMINACA) Metabolites in Human Hepatocytes

“…Urine is the most common matrix for drug testing because of the longer window of detection compared to blood and oral fluid, a higher concentration of metabolites for several days after intake, and a generally larger sample volume. However, SC are highly metabolized and detection of parent SC in urine is rare (19)(20)(21)(22)(23). This is the case for AB-CHMINACA, desmethyl analog of ADB-CHMINACA ( Fig.…”

Determination of XLR-11 and its metabolites in hair by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry

“…Under the Act UR-144 and XLR-11 were added to temporary scheduled NPS for 3 years in June 2014 in South Korea. Many studies have been reported on the determination and identification of synthetic cannabinoids in urine samples [7][8][9][10], and several researches on the determination of JWH-018, JWH-073, AM-2201, JWH-122 and MAM-2201 in hair samples were reported [11,12]. However, no study on the distribution of XLR-11 and http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpba.2015.05.022 0731-7085/© 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.…”