A comprehensive study of herbal blends from portuguese smart-shops: isolation, analysis and toxicological impact

Lopes, Inês Costa

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.26/6714

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Authors

Lopes, Inês Costa

Advisor(s)

Quintas, Alexandre

Soeiro, Rita

Abstract(s)

In the last few years, several samples were found to contain different combinations of multiple synthetic cannabinoids, fact which may end up in a serious health threat since these substances are not fully studied and the toxic as well as the pharmacological effects are not known. The isolation and quantification of psychoactive substances from the herbal blends, known as ‘Spice’, was performed by HPLC-UV and the identification by LC-MS/MS. The HPLC-UV method was validated for the quantification and has proven to be fit for purpose. The sample 1 has shown the coexistence of JWH-122 (29,07mg/g) and JWH-210 (175,9mg/g) while the sample 2 was found to contain one single synthetic cannabinoid, the JWH-018 (149,7mg/g). The sample 3 presented the same multiple psychoactive substances as sample 1, JWH-122 (7,3mg/g) and JWH-210 (129,9mg/g). Since these drugs are mainly smoked, a smoking machine was created* in order to characterize the chemical composition of the pyrolysis. The GC-MS analysis performed to the pyrolysis solutions has shown no degradation of the JWH-018, drug used for the assay. The toxicity impact of the characterized substances was assessed on human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells, applying a combination of multiple synthetic cannabinoids (JWH-122 and JWH-210) and single one (JWH-018). The preliminary results indicate that these psychoactive substances are not toxic to the cells in the concentrations ranging from 0μM to 50μM. *Designed by Dr. Alexandre Quintas and is under a patenting process