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Identification and quantitation of JWH-213, a cannabimimetic indole, as a designer drug in a herbal product

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Abstract

In our survey of designer drugs in the Japanese market, a cannabimimetic indole was identified as a new active compound in a herbal product. The structure of this compound was elucidated by liquid chromatography–photodiode array–mass spectrometry (LC–PDA–MS), gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS), high-resolution MS, and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analyses. The compound was finally identified as (4-ethyl-1-naphthalenyl)(2-methyl-1-pentyl-1H-indol-3-yl)methanone (JWH-213), an indole-based cannabinoid receptor ligand. To our knowledge, this is the first finding of JWH-213 as a designer drug in a herbal product. The quantitative LC–PDA analysis showed that the JWH-213 content in the product was 252 mg/pack.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chiba Prefectural Institute of Public Health, 666-2 Nitona-cho, Chiba, Chiba, 260-8715, Japan

    Kazunaga Takahashi, Tomohide Fukiwake, Takashi Hasegawa, Masaaki Saijou & Yuji Motoki

  2. National Institute of Health Sciences, 1-18-1 Kamiyoga, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, 158-8501, Japan

    Nahoko Uchiyama, Ruri Kikura-Hanajiri & Yukihiro Goda

Authors
  1. Kazunaga Takahashi
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  2. Nahoko Uchiyama
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  3. Tomohide Fukiwake
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  4. Takashi Hasegawa
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  5. Masaaki Saijou
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  6. Yuji Motoki
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  7. Ruri Kikura-Hanajiri
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  8. Yukihiro Goda
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Correspondence to Kazunaga Takahashi.

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Takahashi, K., Uchiyama, N., Fukiwake, T. et al. Identification and quantitation of JWH-213, a cannabimimetic indole, as a designer drug in a herbal product. Forensic Toxicol 31, 145–150 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11419-012-0161-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11419-012-0161-6

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