Toxicokinetics of new psychoactive substances: plasma protein binding,metabolic stability,and human phase I metabolism of the synthetic cannabinoid WIN 55,212‐2 studied using in vitro tools and LC‐HR‐MS/MS

The new psychoactive substance WIN 55,212‐2 ((R)‐(+)‐[2,3‐dihydro‐5‐methyl‐3‐(4‐morpholinylmethyl)pyrrolo‐[1,2,3‐de]‐1,4‐benzoxazin‐6‐yl]‐1‐napthalenylmethanone) is a potent synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonist. The metabolism of WIN 55,212‐2 in man has never been reported. Therefore, the aim of this study was to identify the human in vitro metabolites of WIN 55,212‐2 using pooled human liver microsomes and liquid chromatography‐high resolution‐tandem mass spectrometry (LC‐HR‐MS/MS) to provide targets for toxicological, doping, and environmental screening procedures. Moreover, a metabolic stability study in pooled human liver microsomes (pHLM) was carried out. In total, 19 metabolites were identified and the following partly overlapping metabolic steps were deduced: degradation of the morpholine ring via hydroxylation, N‐ and O‐dealkylation, and oxidative deamination, hydroxylations on either the naphthalene or morpholine ring or the alkyl spacer with subsequent oxidation, epoxide formation with subsequent hydrolysis, or combinations. In conclusion, WIN 55,212‐2 was extensively metabolized in human liver microsomes incubations and the calculated hepatic clearance was comparably high, indicating a fast and nearly complete metabolism in vivo. This is in line with previous findings on other synthetic cannabinoids. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.