August 1, 2025Open Access

Effects of Prenatal Cannabinoids Exposure: Assessing the Role of the Endocannabinoid System in a Neurodevelopmental Animal Model of Psychopathology

Key Points

Prenatal THC exposure leads to cognitive and social impairments in rat offspring, highlighting developmental risks.
Offspring showed significant deficits in memory and sociability, with p<0.001 in key tests measuring recognition and interaction.
The analysis included maternal treatment with THC or vehicle from gestation to assess long-term behavioral outcomes.
Findings may suggest the endocannabinoid system's role in neurodevelopmental disorders, calling for further research.

Abstract

Abstract Background Consumption of Cannabis sativa derivatives has increased for their beneficial effects on pregnancy in reducing symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, insomnia and anxiety. However, FDA clearly strongly advises against the use of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) during pregnancy (Solowij et al., 2016). Aims 0.001) and in the sociability (p0.001), which alterations were paralleled by increased CB1R (p0.05) and DAGL-alfa (p0.05), D2DR (p0.05) and decreased FAAH (p0.05) mRNA levels, respectively. There were no changes in the % of cells peripheral blood leukocytes between VHC treated group and pTHC rats. Discussion & Conclusions Our data shows that prenatal THC exposure leads to anomalies at neonatal age which may be considered as early markers of neurodevelopmental disorders later in life characterized by cognitive and social impairment. Furthermore, the altered tone of the endocannabinoid/dopaminergic system, may be suggested as potential target for innovative pharmacological challenges.

Effects of Prenatal Cannabinoids Exposure: Assessing the Role of the Endocannabinoid System in a Neurodevelopmental Animal Model of Psychopathology

Key Points

Abstract

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