Studio in vitro sulla stabilità strutturale dei cannabinoidi sintetici nel fluido orale

In the last decade the illegal drug market has seen the birth, first, and the affirmation, then, of synthetic substances much more dangerous than traditional drugs. In 2012 the Commission on Narcotic Drugs classified them under the term NPS or "New Psychoactive Substances", legally marketed as environmental fragrances named "Spice". Chemical-toxicological results have highlighted the presence, in this products, of synthetic cannabinoids particularly affine to CB1 cannabinoid receptors. The aim of the research was to evaluate the structural stability of these molecules when subjected to a change of the physical state due to the high temperatures reached during the smoking process. The attention was drawn to saliva, the biological matrix immediately involved in the smoking process, characterized by non-invasive sampling and which allowed obtaining reliable and repeatable data in high-resolution mass spectrometry. The highly lipophilic structure of the molecules requires the use of glass containers, in order to avoid adsorption on the surface of polypropylene tubes, while the storage temperature to which the biological matrix is subjected influences the potential degradation of synthetic cannabinoids by salivary and/or microbial enzymes. The results obtained show a certain structural stability of the molecules under investigation, but the analytical data obtained, usable both in the clinical and forensic field, must comply with a strict analytical/instrumental protocol.