CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

In the last few years, the use of cannabis-based oil for therapeuticalpurposes has significantly increased. However, Cannabis is an exception to conventional design, development and testing which generally applies to medicines. Definitely, it was promoted bypatients, instead of scientific researchers or physicians. Recently, diversestudies have been demonstrated the pharmacological properties of the differentactive principles of cannabis for their application in several pathologies. Tetrahydrocannabinolic(THC) and cannabidiolic (CBD) are the two more studied cannabinoids and arefound in trichomes of cannabis inflorescence. For therapeutic uses, it is oftenconsumed as oil extracts. Nevertheless, their preparation procedure has notbeen standardized and the relative composition of active principles is poorlyknown. The aim of this study was to standardize the methodfor ethanolic extraction of THC and CBD and measure their relative compositionin different varieties of Cannabissativa. High performance liquidchromatography (HPLC) was employed to perform the determinations presented inthis study. Weanalyzed the effect of time incubation on cannabinoids yield. Samples were extractedby homogenization with blender for 2 minutes and incubated for 0, 1, 2, 6, 12,24 h and then daily along a week. Aliquots from each time did not showdifferences in THC and CBD yield. These results indicate that it is notnecessary to prolong the maceration time to increase the cannabinoids yieldwhen this homogenization method is applied. Relative content of THC and CBD wasmeasured in four different plant varieties. In all cases, THC level was higherthan CBD, varying from 3 to 28 times. In summary, the data obtained here represent fundamental information both for the physician, and for aneventual clinical trial, which must take into account all the characteristicsof the product under examination.