Authors
Orapan Apirakkan, Ivana Gavrilović, Giuseppe Floresta, Cheyanne Pierre, Annelies Cannaert, Christophe P Stove, Paul I Dargan, David A Cowan, Lewis Couchman, Vincenzo Abbate
Publication date
2020/1
Journal
Forensic Toxicology
Volume
38
Pages
95-107
Publisher
Springer Singapore
Description
Purpose
Synthetic cannabinoids (SCs) represent a large proportion of novel psychoactive substances on the black market and have caused a number of deaths. Polydrug use including combination of SCs and ethanol could further complicate the toxicological impact. To the best of our knowledge, there have been no reports presenting evidence of transesterification between SCs and ethanol in vitro.
Methods
The in vitro metabolism of the four carboxylate SCs PB-22, NPB-22, 5-fluoro-PB-22 (5F-PB-22), and 5-fluoro-NPB-22 (5F-NPB-22) in the presence of ethanol using human liver microsomes with and without appropriate enzyme inhibitors was studied. Newly identified SC ethyl esters were chemically synthesised and fully characterised. The activity of these SCs and their ethanol transesterification products were assessed using cannabinoid receptor (CB1 and CB2) activation assays.
Results
SCs/ethanol …
Scholar articles
O Apirakkan, I Gavrilović, G Floresta, C Pierre… - Forensic Toxicology, 2020