Quantification of anandamide, oleoylethanolamide and palmitoylethanolamide in rodent brain tissue using high performance liquid chromatographyelectrospray mass spectroscopy

Reported concentrations for endocannabinoids and related lipids in biological tissues can vary greatly; therefore, methods used to quantify these compounds need to be validated. This report describes a method to quantify anandamide （AEA）, oleoylethanolamide （OEA） and palmitoylethanolamide （PEA） from rodent brain tissue. Analytes were exwacted using acetonitfile without further sample clean up, resolved on a C 18 reverse-phase column using a gradient mobile phase and detected using eleclmspmy ionization in positive selected ion monitoring mode on a single quadrupole mass spectrometer. The method produced high recovery rates for AEA, OEA and PEA, ranging from 98.1% to 106.2%, 98.5% to 102.2% and 85.4% to 89.5%, respectively. The method resulted in adequate sensitivity with a lower limit of quantification for AEA, OEA