Given its size and broad mission, Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna (UNIBO, Italy) has become increasingly aware of its social, economic, and environmental impact, and has taken urgent and effective actions to address the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted in 2015 by the United Nations (UN). In less than a decade, UNIBO’s efforts have led to significant outcomes and in fact, in 2020, it was ranked sixth in the Times Higher Education Global Impact Ranking, in recognition of its pioneering commitment to the SDGs. In terms of sustainability in medicinal chemistry, the Research Group of Pharmaco-Toxicological Analysis (PTA Lab) of UNIBO has gained positions of international relevance in the development of highly innovative bioanalytical protocols and methods, characterized by a high degree of miniaturization, throughput and automation. In particular, technologies for the microsampling of biological matrices coupled to reliable instrumental analysis are becoming increasingly mature and consolidated to be exploited on a large scale and in a wide range of applications including clinical, toxicological and pharmacokinetic studies. In this research work, an original bioanalytical approach based on the collection of capillary dried blood spot (DBS) samples from a finger prick is proposed for the accurate quali-quantitative analysis of Δ8-THC together with its main circulating metabolites 11-hydroxy-Δ8-tetrahydrocannabinol (11-OH-Δ8-THC) and 11-nor-Δ8-tetrahydrocannabinol-9-carboxylic acid (11-nor-Δ8-THC-9-COOH or Δ8-THC-11-oic acid) by means of a fully validated UHPLC method coupled to mass spectrometry. DBS testing allows the collection of just a few drops of blood, by means of disposable miniaturized devices, to be easily transferred onto cellulosic cards. Moreover, feasible sample handling protocols are included in the preanalytical steps, featuring high throughput and low impact thanks to the reduced use of green organic solvents (mainly water and ethanol in the range of few microliters) and to miniaturized recycled glass vials or tubes. The coupling to an advanced UHPLC system to for instrumental bioanalysis allows to keep injection volumes between 1 and 3 microliters. It is evident how the proposed DBS-UHPLC-MS approach represents a reliable, sustainable and versatile tool to deepen the knowledge on Δ8-THC, at the moment the fastest growing cannabis market product whose clinical, toxicological and metabolic studies are still incomplete.

Sustainability in the evolving scenario of cannabinoid bioanalysis: Microsampling for the assessment of Δ8-THC and metabolites

Fall 2022 abstracts, posters, and presentations will launch in mid-September.

ACS Fall 2022

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.