Imagine two substances that can change your mind and body in different ways. One can make you feel euphoric, relaxed, and creative, while the other can make you sleepy, calm, and dreamy. These are THC and melatonin, and they are more than just recreational drugs. They are also potential medicines that can help people with epilepsy, insomnia, pain, and other conditions.
But there is a problem: we need to learn more about how they work in the human body, mainly when used together. How do they affect your brain, hormones, mood, and sleep? How do they interact with each other and with other drugs? What are the benefits and risks of using them for different purposes and populations?
To make things worse, measuring them in blood or urine is difficult because they need more concentration, are similar in structure, and are mixed with other substances. How can we accurately and precisely detect and quantify them in biological samples? How can we ensure the consistency and value of the analytical results? How can we overcome the challenges of sample preparation, chromatographic separation, and mass spectrometric detection?
Scientists are trying to answer these questions by studying THC and melatonin, two fascinating compounds that can alter the mind and body in different ways.
But don’t worry because we have a groundbreaking solution. This cutting-edge LC-MS/MS method lets us measure THC, melatonin, and their primary metabolites in human plasma all at once! Our method involves a simple yet rapid extraction process that uses acetonitrile to separate and analyze the compounds on a C18 column. It is amazing how this technique allows us to understand the impact of these substances. Plus, with the full support and guidance from the US FDA, we can trust in our method’s accuracy, precision, linearity, selectivity, and stability.
Get ready for some exciting results! We have successfully applied our method to analyze plasma samples from healthy volunteers who received oral doses of THC and melatonin, either alone or in combination, as part of a clinical trial.
We could detect and measure THC, melatonin, and their metabolites accurately and precisely, even at low plasma nanogram per milliliter (ng/mL) levels. We also obtained valuable insights into how THC and melatonin interact in the human body, shedding light on their pharmacokinetics or the movement and transformation of the drugs in the body.
We found that THC and melatonin have different absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination profiles and may influence each other’s pharmacokinetics when taken together. For example, we observed that THC may increase the plasma concentration and the half-life (the time it takes for the concentration to decrease by half) of melatonin. In contrast, melatonin may decrease the plasma concentration and the half-life of THC.
These findings suggest that THC and melatonin may have synergistic or antagonistic effects on each other, dependent on the dose and the timing of administration. These effects may have implications for these compounds’ therapeutic potential and safety profile and the interpretation of the drug testing results.
However, that is not all—our method has the potential to revolutionize clinical and forensic applications involving THC and melatonin, such as drug testing, monitoring, development, and abuse prevention. Using our method, we can unlock the secrets of these mind—and body-altering substances and harness their benefits for human health and well-being.