Extraction and Simultaneous Quantification of Endocannabinoids and Endocannabinoid-Like Lipids in Biological Tissues.

Extraction and quantification of endocannabinoids (eCBs) from biological tissues are essential to unravel their changes in physiological and pathophysiological conditions. We describe here an analytical protocol for extraction of endocannabinoids, anandamide (AEA) and 2-arachidonoyl glycerol (2-AG), endocannabinoid-like lipids such as palmitoyl ethanolamide (PEA) and oleoyl ethanolamide (OEA), as well as arachidonic acid (AA) from biological tissues using liquid-liquid extraction method and simultaneous quantification by liquid chromatography multiple reaction monitoring (LC/MRM).