Cinzia Citti1,2, Umberto Maria Battisti3,4, Daniela Braghiroli3, Giuseppe Ciccarella2,5, Martin Schmid6, Maria Angela Vandelli3, Giuseppe Cannazza2,3. 1. Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Biologiche ed Ambientali, Università del Salento, Via per Monteroni, 73100, Lecce, Italy. 2. CNR NANOTEC, Campus Ecoteckne dell'Università del Salento, Via per Monteroni, 73100, Lecce, Italy. 3. Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita, Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Via Campi 103, 41125, Modena, Italy. 4. Department of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, 23298, USA. 5. Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Biologiche ed Ambientali, Università del Salento & UdR INSTM di Lecce, c/o Campus Ecotekne, Via Monteroni, 73100, Lecce, Italy. 6. Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of Graz, Schubertstraße 1, Graz, A-8010, Austria.
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Cannabis sativa L. is a powerful medicinal plant and its use has recently increased for the treatment of several pathologies. Nonetheless, side effects, like dizziness and hallucinations, and long-term effects concerning memory and cognition, can occur. Most alarming is the lack of a standardised procedure to extract medicinal cannabis. Indeed, each galenical preparation has an unknown chemical composition in terms of cannabinoids and other active principles that depends on the extraction procedure. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to highlight the main differences in the chemical composition of Bediol® extracts when the extraction is carried out with either ethyl alcohol or olive oil for various times (0, 60, 120 and 180 min for ethyl alcohol, and 0, 60, 90 and 120 min for olive oil). METHODOLOGY: Cannabis medicinal extracts (CMEs) were analysed by liquid chromatography coupled to high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) using an untargeted metabolomics approach. The data sets were processed by unsupervised multivariate analysis. RESULTS: Our results suggested that the main difference lies in the ratio of acid to decarboxylated cannabinoids, which dramatically influences the pharmacological activity of CMEs. Minor cannabinoids, alkaloids, and amino acids contributing to this difference are also discussed. The main cannabinoids were quantified in each extract applying a recently validated LC-MS and LC-UV method. CONCLUSIONS: Notwithstanding the use of a standardised starting plant material, great changes are caused by different extraction procedures. The metabolomics approach is a useful tool for the evaluation of the chemical composition of cannabis extracts.
INTRODUCTION:Cannabis sativa L. is a powerful medicinal plant and its use has recently increased for the treatment of several pathologies. Nonetheless, side effects, like dizziness and hallucinations, and long-term effects concerning memory and cognition, can occur. Most alarming is the lack of a standardised procedure to extract medicinal cannabis. Indeed, each galenical preparation has an unknown chemical composition in terms of cannabinoids and other active principles that depends on the extraction procedure. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to highlight the main differences in the chemical composition of Bediol® extracts when the extraction is carried out with either ethyl alcohol or olive oil for various times (0, 60, 120 and 180 min for ethyl alcohol, and 0, 60, 90 and 120 min for olive oil). METHODOLOGY:Cannabis medicinal extracts (CMEs) were analysed by liquid chromatography coupled to high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) using an untargeted metabolomics approach. The data sets were processed by unsupervised multivariate analysis. RESULTS: Our results suggested that the main difference lies in the ratio of acid to decarboxylated cannabinoids, which dramatically influences the pharmacological activity of CMEs. Minor cannabinoids, alkaloids, and amino acids contributing to this difference are also discussed. The main cannabinoids were quantified in each extract applying a recently validated LC-MS and LC-UV method. CONCLUSIONS: Notwithstanding the use of a standardised starting plant material, great changes are caused by different extraction procedures. The metabolomics approach is a useful tool for the evaluation of the chemical composition of cannabis extracts.
Authors: Cinzia Citti; Fabiana Russo; Pasquale Linciano; Sarah Sylvana Strallhofer; Francesco Tolomeo; Flavio Forni; Maria Angela Vandelli; Giuseppe Gigli; Giuseppe Cannazza Journal: Cannabis Cannabinoid Res Date: 2021-02-12