Cannabis sativa is known to be the most abused illegal drug worldwide. To date it is not only used as a medicine but has been established as a lifestyle product. The most relevant phytocannabinoids represent the ingredients delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (D⁹-THC) and cannabidiol (CBD), whereby only D⁹-THC shows a psychoactive effect. Since 2017, the so-called CBD-hemp containing CBD as main ingredient is distributed in many countries as a legal alternative. In these products, D⁹-THC must not exceed a certain percentage. It is hardly possible to differentiate between THC-hemp and CBD-hemp presenting a major challenge for authorities. Therefore, there is the need to develop fast and efficient analysis methods to distinguish between fibre-type, drug-type and intermediate-type cannabis products. The aim of this study was to compare two simple and inexpensive HPLC-UV and GC-FID methods for their ability to quantify phytocannabinoids in dried cannabis plant material. For this purpose, a set of 37 fresh and dried cannabis samples randomly chosen from seizures of Austrian police was subject to complementary quantification of D⁹-THC and CBD. After having taken into account decomposition of certain phytocannabinoids, the result of this quantitative study showed good correlation between HPLC-UV and GC-FID regardless of quantifying cannabis leaves or buds.

Stroke is a devastating disease, intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is a devastating subtype. This study aimed to investigate whether cholinergic receptors participate in the process of Angong Niuhuang Pill (ANP) improving neurological function and relieving intestinal injury in ICH mice. The mice were treated with ANP, cholinergic receptor blockers, atropine (ATR), penehyclidine hydrochloride (PHC) or methyllycaconitine (MLA). Male CD-1 mice were randomly divided into 9 groups, Sham, ICH, ANP (0.2 g/kg), ANP plus ATR, ANP plus PHC, ANP plus MLA, ATR, PHC, MLA. ICH model is made by collagenase Ⅶ injection (0.075 U). ANP (0.2 g/kg) was administered by gavage after 30 min of ICH. MLA, ATR, PHC was given at 15 min after ICH. Neurological function was evaluated by Garcia test. Intestinal injury was observed by histological analysis. Endotoxin (ET) was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Compared to the Sham group, the score of Garcia test in the ICH significantly decreased. ANP increased significantly the score of ICH mice. ANP also ameliorated the intestinal injury caused by ICH. Cholinergic receptor blockers reversed partially the improvement of neurological function and intestinal injury by ANP. ANP attenuates the neurological deficits and intestinal injury in ICH mice and the protective effect of ANP may be involved in the regulation of the cholinergic system.

To develop a new method for the synthesis of bicyclic ortho-aminocarbonitrile derivatives. Reaction of aromatic aldehydes, cycloketones and malononitrile with catalytic amount of 3-(dimethylamino)- 1-propylamine (DMAPA) in ethanol via Knoevenagel-Michael cascades. The bicyclic ortho-aminocarbonitrile derivatives were obtained with good to excellent yields along with short reaction times. The universality, excellent yields, mild reaction and easy collection through simple filtration indicate the preparation of orthoaminocarbonitriles derivatives is an efficient and suitable protocol, which use one-pot multicomponent reaction of aromatic aldehyde, cycloketone, and 2 equiv. of malononitrile under the catalytic amount of DMAPA in ethanol.