Detection of cannabigerol and its presumptive metabolite in human urine after Cannabis consumption.

Kemp et al. (1995) could detect delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol (delta9-THC), cannabinol and cannabidiol, three neutral cannabinoids, and the metabolites of delta9-THC in urine samples of Cannabis consumers. In this study we aimed to identify cannabigerol (CBG), which in its acid form is one of the main intermediate compounds of the biosynthesis of cannabinoids in hemp, in authority urine samples of proved Cannabis consumers. For this reason we applied the modified method of Kemp et al. to test for CBG, since enzymatic hydrolysis seems to be necessary for the formation of free neutral cannabinoids from conjugates. After extraction, derivatisation with N-Methyl-N-(trimethylsilyl)trifluoroacetamide (MSTFA) and GC/MS analysis, peaks of characteristic fragment ions (m/z 337, 391, 377 and 460) of bis-trimethylsilyl derivative of CBG appeared at 12.48 minutes in both real sample and the urine spiked with CBG. It shows that CBG enters the body during Cannabis smoking and is excreted with urine in a conjugated form, like other neutral cannabinoids. Analysing the chromatograms of hydrolysed and trimethylsilylated extracts we checked for the presence of CBG-metabolites based on the study of Harvey and Brown (1990). We detected a compound in the Cannabis consumers' urine extracts, having fragment ions at m/z 425, 465 and 479 at the retention time of 14.19 min which is presumed to be the 4"-hydroxy-CBG or 5"-hydroxy-CBG. However, it could not be identified completely by GC/MS. This peak was absent in non-hydrolysed urine samples, indicating that it is also excreted in glucuronated form.