Authors :
Presenting Author: Maria Jones-Muhammad, PhD – University of Alabama at Birmingham
Zena Patel, N/A – University of Alabama at Birmingham
Farah Lubin, PhD – University of Alabama at Birmingham
Rationale:
Cannabidiol (CBD) is one of the two major chemicals found in the cannabis plant. Considered safer for its non-psychoactive, anti-inflammatory, and medicinal traits, CBD, including its seizure relief, is increasingly used during pregnancy. However, there is not clear evidence as to what affect CBD has on the developing offspring brain. In order to gain a comprehensive understanding of the safety profile of cannabidiol (CBD), this study aimed to examine the effects of prenatal exposure to CBD on the development of the brain.Methods:
Three- to five-month-old C57BL/6 dams were paired with males overnight and given a 2ml agar gummy infused with either the vehicle olive oil or CBD mixed in olive oil from gestational day 5.5-18.5. After being exposed, the dams delivered offspring, whose weight, dietary intake, and overall health were tracked from birth until they reached 2 months old. At 2 months, olive oil and CBD exposed mice underwent a battery of behavioral tests to assess anxiety, learning and memory which included the open field test, Y-maze novel arm test, and the contextual fear memory test. Following behavior testing, mice were challenged with acute seizures using 40 mg/kg of the chemiconvulsant pentylenetetrazol.
Results:
Exposing pregnant dams to CBD from gestational day 5.5-18.5 resulted in slight weight gain. Offspring subjected to CBD treatment exhibited greater weight compared to those exposed to the vehicle at postnatal days 49 and 56, while no significant difference in weight gain was observed at earlier developmental stages. There was no discernible difference in food consumption between the groups. Mice exposed to CBD demonstrated a reduced duration of time spent in the center of the open field and exhibited decreased freezing behavior during the hippocampus-dependent contextual fear memory test. No significant difference was observed in the duration of time spent by mice in either the novel or familiar arm during the Y-maze. Offspring exposed to CBD exhibited altered sensitivity to acute seizures induced by PTZ. Ongoing research seek to elucidate the epigenetic mechanisms that underpin the effects of CBD in the offspring.Conclusions:
Daily oral CBD intake alters anxiety behavior, learning, memory, and seizure threshold in offspring. Moreover, this is the first study on CBD's effects on seizures in a non-diseased model.Funding:
K00NS129125