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Quantification of Endocannabinoids from Biological Samples Using Liquid Chromatography–Tandem Mass Spectrometry

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Lipidomics

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 2625))

Abstract

Endocannabinoids (eCBs) are a family of lipid molecules with important regulatory function in the brain and immune system. The two well-studied eCBs are arachidonic acid derivatives, N-arachidonoylethanolamine (AEA) and 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG). Currently one of the most important methods for quantitative analysis of eCBs and related lipids from biological matrices is liquid chromatographic separation coupled with tandem mass spectroscopy (LC-MS/MS) owing to its high sensitivity and selectivity, as well as no derivatization procedures needed. Here we describe pretreatment procedures using solid-phase extraction for tissue sampling and an in vivo brain microdialysis approach prior to LC-MS/MS analysis, followed by detailed steps of LC-MS/MS analytic method to demonstrate the potential and application of this method in quantification of eCBs and congeners from various biological matrices.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by NIH-National Institutes of Aging PO1 AG039355 (MB) and the George W. and Hazel M. Jay Endowment (MB). We also gratefully acknowledge support from Shimadzu Institute for Research Technologies (SIRT) at University of Texas-Arlington (UTA).

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Correspondence to Marco Brotto .

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Wang, Z., Mo, C., Bonewald, L., Brotto, M. (2023). Quantification of Endocannabinoids from Biological Samples Using Liquid Chromatography–Tandem Mass Spectrometry. In: Bhattacharya, S.K. (eds) Lipidomics. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 2625. Humana, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-2966-6_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-2966-6_11

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  • Publisher Name: Humana, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-0716-2965-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-0716-2966-6

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