New research shows that prenatal exposure to a synthetic cannabinoid induces long-term adverse health effects in rats. The corresponding study was published in the American Journal of Physiology- Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology.
Drug use during pregnancy can affect fetal development. Studies show that exogenous cannabinoids can cross the placenta and enter the fetal bloodstream. Research also shows that disrupting the endogenous cannabinoid system may lead to physiological deficiencies in cognitive, motor, thermoregulatory, and cardiorespiratory control.
Until now, long-term studies investigating the effects of prenatal cannabinoid exposure on carbon dioxide-induced panic behavior and cardiorespiratory control have been limited. Researchers thus sought to address this gap in the current study.
To do so, they exposed pregnant female rats to a synthetic cannabinoid between day zero and 21 of gestation. Offspring remained with their mothers until they were weaned at 21 days old, at which point they separated, and later assessed during adulthood at 80 days old.
"We observed long-term alterations to behavior and above all to cardiorespiratory function in the animals that were exposed to the cannabinoid while they were still in the womb. The alterations were different in males and females," said first author of the study, Luis Gustavo Patrone of the Department of Animal Morphology and Physiology at Sao Paulo State University, in a press release.
The researchers found that prenatal exposure to the cannabinoid was linked to increased respiratory sensitivity to carbon dioxide among males, and decreased sensitivity in females. Heightened sensitivity to carbon dioxide can lead to panic attacks with shortness of breath and a false suffocation alarm in humans.
The researchers further found that cannabinoid exposure during fetal development was linked to a high risk of cardiovascular dysfunction in adulthood, with females being especially susceptible to hypertension and tachycardia. Sleep quality deteriorated among both males and females, but more severely in males.
The observed sex differences may be explained by the different actions of sex hormones. For example, estrogen is known to be neuroprotective. Furthermore, the respiratory system of males- including the lungs and regions of the brain responsible for controlling respiratory function- develops more slowly than that of females, perhaps making males more susceptible to adverse effects of cannabinoids.
Sources: News-Medical.net, American Journal of Physiology- Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology
