Synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonizts (SCRAs), also known as synthetic cannabinoids, are mostly consumed in the form of herbal mixtures available in online shops. These herbal mixtures are produced by soaking dried, crushed plant material in a solution of SCRAs or by spraying the solution on the plant material. Inhomogeneity in the distribution of the active ingredient can occur during the production process and pose a serious health risk for consumers of these drugs. In the present study 20 herbal mixtures containing Cumyl-PEGACLONE, one of the most prevalent SCRAs in Germany in 2017, were quantitatively analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection (HPLC-DAD) after an initial screening by gas chromatography mass spectrometry. All investigated herbal mixtures were purchased in online shops during a systematic product monitoring carried out in the frame of the EU project "SPICE Profiling". The complete content of the packages was divided into aliquots without homogenization and extracted three times with methanol under ultrasonication. The combined extracts of each aliquot were filtered and quantified with a fully validated HPLC-DAD method using a 7-point calibration curve (1-50 μg/mL). The Cumyl-PEGACLONE content in the analyzed material ranged from 8.6 to 146 mg/g (median 29.4 mg/g, mean 38.5 mg/g). The intrapackage concentration variability was mostly below 10% RSD. Analyzed concentrations roughly correlated with product advisory (e.g., "strong") on the websites, if available. Aliquots at the bottom of a package generally tended to show higher levels of Cumyl-PEGACLONE than the upper aliquots. Packages of the same brand with different date of order did not always show the same mean concentrations. Compared to former studies, the SCRA concentrations are generally lower and the risk of extreme variation of intrapackage SCRA contents seems to have dropped.

中文翻译：

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含有枯基-PEGACLONE的草药混合物的定量-不均一性还是一个问题吗？

合成大麻素受体激动剂（SCRA），也称为合成大麻素，大多以网上商店提供的草药混合物形式消费。这些草药混合物是通过将干燥，压碎的植物材料浸泡在SCRA溶液中或将溶液喷在植物材料上制成的。活性成分分布不均匀可能在生产过程中发生，并给这些药物的消费者带来严重的健康风险。在本研究中，通过气相色谱质谱法进行初步筛选后，通过高效液相色谱-二极管阵列检测（HPLC-DAD）对20种含有2017年德国最普遍的SCRA的Cumyl-PEGACLONE的草药混合物进行了定量分析。在欧盟项目“ SPICE Profiling”的框架内进行的系统产品监控期间，所有被调查的草药混合物都是在网上商店购买的。将包装的全部内容物不均质地分成等分试样，并在超声处理下用甲醇萃取3次。使用7点校准曲线（1-50μg/ mL），使用完全验证的HPLC-DAD方法过滤和定量各等份的合并提取物。分析物质中的枯基-PEGACLONE含量范围为8.6至146 mg / g（中值29.4 mg / g，平均38.5 mg / g）。封装内浓度的变异性大多低于10％RSD。如果可用，分析浓度与网站上的产品咨询（例如“强”）大致相关。包装底部的等分试样通常倾向于显示出高于上部等分试样的水平的Cumyl-PEGACLONE。具有相同订购日期的同一品牌的包装并不总是显示相同的平均浓度。与以前的研究相比，SCRA浓度通常较低，并且包装内SCRA含量发生极端变化的风险似乎有所降低。