Citation

Battista N, Sergi M, Montesano C, Napoletano S, Compagnone D, Maccarrone M. Drug Test. Anal. 2014; 6(1-2): 7-16.

Affiliation

Faculty of Bioscience and Technology for Food, Agriculture and Environment, University of Teramo, Teramo, Italy; European Center for Brain Research/Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/dta.1574

PMID

24218186

Abstract

Over the last two decades, the role played by phytocannabinoids and endocannabinoids in medicine has gained increasing interest in the scientific community. Upon identification of the plant compound Δ(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and of the endogenous substance anandamide (AEA), different methodological approaches and innovative techniques have been developed, in order to evaluate the content of these molecules in various human matrices. In this review, we discuss the analytical methods that are currently used for the identification of phytocannabinoids and endocannabinoids, and we summarize the benefits and limitations of these procedures. Moreover, we provide an overview of the main biological matrices that have been analyzed to date for qualitative detection and quantitative determination of these compounds.

Language: en