Medical cannabis has been legally available for patients in a number of countries. Licensed producers produce a variety of cannabis strains with different concentrations of phytocannabinoids. Phytocannabinoids in medical cannabis are decarboxylated when subjected to heating for consumption by the patients or when extracted for preparing cannabis derivative products. There is little understanding of the true chemical composition of cannabis extracts, changes occurring during heating of the extracts, and their relevance to pharmacological effects. We investigated the extract from a popular commercial strain of medical cannabis, prior to and after decarboxylation, to understand the chemical profiles. A total of up to 62 compounds could be identified simultaneously in the extract derived from commercial cannabis, including up to 23 phytocannabinoids. Upon heating, several chemical changes take place, including the loss of carboxylic group from the acidic phytocannabinoids. This investigation attempts to reveal the chemical complexity of commercial medical cannabis extracts and the differences in the chemical composition of the native extract and the one subjected to heat. Comprehensive chemical analyses of medical cannabis extracts are needed for standardization, consistency, and, more importantly, an informed employment of this substance for therapeutic purposes.

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医用大麻提取物的化学分析

医用大麻已在许多国家/地区合法提供给患者。获得许可的生产者生产具有不同浓度植物大麻素的各种大麻菌株。医用大麻中的植物大麻素经过加热以供患者食用或提取以制备大麻衍生物时会脱羧。对大麻提取物的真正化学成分，提取物加热过程中发生的变化及其与药理作用的关系知之甚少。我们研究了脱羧之前和之后从流行的医用大麻商业菌株中提取的提取物，以了解其化学特征。在源自商业大麻的提取物中可以同时鉴定出总共多达62种化合物，其中包括多达23种植物大麻素。加热后，发生了一些化学变化，包括酸性植物大麻素失去了羧基。这项调查试图揭示商业医用大麻提取物的化学复杂性，以及天然提取物和受热的大麻提取物在化学组成上的差异。需要对医用大麻提取物进行全面的化学分析，以实现标准化，一致性，更重要的是，为了治疗目的应知情地使用该物质。