Arno Hazekamp

Metabolic fingerprinting of Cannabis sativa L., cannabinoids and terpenoids for chemotaxonomic and drug standardization purposes.

Cannabis sativa L. is an important medicinal plant. In order to develop cannabis plant material as a medicinal product quality control and clear chemotaxonomic discrimination between varieties is a necessity. Therefore in this study 11 cannabis varieties were grown under the same environmental conditions. Chemical analysis of cannabis plant material used a gas chromatography flame ionization detection method that was validated for quantitative analysis of cannabis monoterpenoids, sesquiterpenoids, and cannabinoids. Quantitative data was analyzed using principal component analysis to determine which compounds are most important in discriminating cannabis varieties. In total 36 compounds were identified and quantified in the 11 varieties. Using principal component analysis each cannabis variety could be chemically discriminated. This methodology is useful for both chemotaxonomic discrimination of cannabis varieties and quality control of plant material.

The Medicinal Use of Cannabis and Cannabinoids—An International Cross-Sectional Survey on Administration Forms

Abstract Cannabinoids, including tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabidiol, are the most important active constituents of the cannabis plant. Over recent years, cannabinoid-based medicines (CBMs) have become increasingly available to patients in many countries, both as pharmaceutical products and as herbal cannabis (marijuana). While there seems to be a demand for multiple cannabinoid-based therapeutic products, specifically for symptomatic amelioration in chronic diseases, therapeutic effects of different CBMs have only been directly compared in a few clinical studies. The survey presented here was performed by the International Association for Cannabinoid Medicines (IACM), and is meant to contribute to the understanding of cannabinoid-based medicine by asking patients who used cannabis or cannabinoids detailed questions about their experiences with different methods of intake. The survey was completed by 953 participants from 31 countries, making this the largest international survey on a wide variety of users of cannabinoid-based medicine performed so far. In general, herbal non-pharmaceutical CBMs received higher appreciation scores by participants than pharmaceutical products containing cannabinoids. However, the number of patients who reported experience with pharmaceutical products was low, limiting conclusions on preferences. Nevertheless, the reported data may be useful for further development of safe and effective medications based on cannabis and single cannabinoids.

Chromatographic and Spectroscopic Data of Cannabinoids from Cannabis sativa L.

Abstract Chromatographic and spectroscopic data was determined for 16 different major cannabinoids from Cannabis sativa plant material as well as 2 human metabolites of Δ9‐tetrahydrocannabinol. Spectroscopic analysis included UV absorbance, infrared‐spectral analysis, (GC‐) mass spectrometry, and spectrophotometric analysis. Also, the fluorescent properties of the cannabinoids are presented. Most of this data is available from literature but scattered over a large amount of scientific papers. In this case, analyses were carried out under standardised conditions for each tested cannabinoid so spectroscopic data can be directly compared. Different methods for the analysis of cannabis preparations were used and are discussed for their usefulness in the identification and determination of separate cannabinoids. Data on the retention of the cannabinoids in HPLC, GC, and TLC are presented.

Preparative Isolation of Cannabinoids from Cannabis sativa by Centrifugal Partition Chromatography

Abstract A simple method is presented for the preparative isolation of seven major cannabinoids from Cannabis sativa plant material. Separation was performed by centrifugal partition chromatography (CPC), a technique that permits large‐scale preparative isolations. Using only two different solvent systems, it was possible to obtain pure samples of the cannabinoids; (−)‐Δ9‐(trans)‐tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9‐THC), cannabidiol (CBD), cannabinol (CBN), cannabigerol (CBG), (−)‐Δ9‐(trans)‐tetrahydrocannabinolic acid‐A (THCA), cannabigerolic acid (CBGA), and cannabidiolic acid (CBDA). A drug‐type and a fiber‐type cannabis cultivar were used for the isolation. All isolates were shown to be more than 90% pure by gas chromatography. This method makes acidic cannabinoids available on a large scale for biological testing. The method described in this report can also be used to isolate additional cannabinoids from cannabis plant material.

Isolation of a bronchodilator flavonoid from the Thai medicinal plant Clerodendrum petasites

The ethanolic extract of Clerodendrum petasites was tested to evaluate the spasmolytic activity on isolated guinea-pig tracheal smooth muscle. The crude extract (2.25-9.0 mg/ml) dose-dependently caused relaxation of tracheal smooth muscle which was contracted by exposure to histamine. A bioassay-guided fractionation of the crude extract was performed by means of partitioning and centrifugal partition chromatography. Finally the active principle was isolated and identified as the flavonoid hispidulin (EC(50): (3.0+/-0.8)x10(-5) M). These results suggest that hispidulin may be beneficial in the treatment of asthma.

A qualitative and quantitative HPTLC densitometry method for the analysis of cannabinoids in Cannabis sativa L.

INTRODUCTION Cannabis and cannabinoid based medicines are currently under serious investigation for legitimate development as medicinal agents, necessitating new low-cost, high-throughput analytical methods for quality control. OBJECTIVE The goal of this study was to develop and validate, according to ICH guidelines, a simple rapid HPTLC method for the quantification of Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (Delta(9)-THC) and qualitative analysis of other main neutral cannabinoids found in cannabis. METHODOLOGY The method was developed and validated with the use of pure cannabinoid reference standards and two medicinal cannabis cultivars. Accuracy was determined by comparing results obtained from the HTPLC method with those obtained from a validated HPLC method. RESULTS Delta(9)-THC gives linear calibration curves in the range of 50-500 ng at 206 nm with a linear regression of y = 11.858x + 125.99 and r(2) = 0.9968. CONCLUSION Results have shown that the HPTLC method is reproducible and accurate for the quantification of Delta(9)-THC in cannabis. The method is also useful for the qualitative screening of the main neutral cannabinoids found in cannabis cultivars.

Application of centrifugal partition chromatography in a general separation and dereplication procedure for plant extracts.

Centrifugal Partition Chromatography (CPC) was used in a general separation and dereplication procedure in search for new biologically active compounds from crude plant extracts. In this procedure, the alcoholic extract was prefractionated by CPC with the solvent system heptane/ethyl acetate/methanol/water 6:1:6:1 (v/v/v/v) followed by bioactivity screening of the fractions. The active fractions were analyzed for the known active components for dereplication. If the activity was found in the most polar fraction, which tended to contain a large group of compounds, the fraction was separated again by CPC (solvent system ethyl acetate/methanol/water 43:22:35, v/v/v). This two-step procedure was found to be efficient for five extracts tested for both chemical and bioactivity profiles.

3.24 – Chemistry of Cannabis

The Cannabis plant (Cannabis sativa L.) has a long history as a recreational drug, but also as part of traditional medicine in many cultures. Based on the number of publications, it is one of the best-studied plants in the world. The relatively recent discovery of cannabinoid receptors and the human endocannabinoid system has opened up a new and exciting field of research. But despite the pharmaceutical potential of Cannabis, its classification as a narcotic drug has prevented its successful development into modern medicine. Fortunately, the chemistry of Cannabis has been studied in much detail. In particular the psychoactive cannabinoid tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) has received great scientific attention, and much is known about its biological effects and mechanisms of action. Besides an extensive description of the chemistry of the cannabinoids, this chapter also introduces the lesser-known terpenoids, flavonoids, and other constituents of the Cannabis plant. Comprehensive information on a variety of subjects is presented, including chromatographic analytical methods, pharmacokinetics, and structure-activity relationships. The known biological effects of Cannabis constituents are discussed in relationship to the development of modern cannabinoid-based medications. Finally, some practical aspects of working with Cannabis are discussed.