Due to the legalization of Cannabis in many jurisdictions and trend of increasing THC content in Cannabis products, an urgent need exists to understand the impact of Cannabis use during pregnancy on fetal neurodevelopment and behavior. To this end, we exposed female Sprague-Dawley rats to Cannabis smoke daily from gestational days 6 to 20 or room-air. Maternal reproductive parameters, offspring behavior, and gene expression in the offspring amygdala were assessed. Body temperature was decreased in dams following smoke exposure and more fecal boli were observed in the chambers before and after smoke exposure in dams exposed to smoke. Maternal weight gain, food intake, gestational length, litter number, and litter weight were not altered by exposure to Cannabis smoke. A significant increase in the male-to-female ratio was noted in the Cannabis -exposed litters. In adulthood, male and female Cannabis smoke-exposed offspring explored the inner zone of an open field significantly less than control offspring. Ge...

We have recently confirmed an association between the Tau H1 haplotype and clinically defined Parkinson’s Disease (PD) in the Norwegian population. In this further extended case-control series, we present systematic association and linkage disequilibrium analyses using Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms spanning the Tau gene. Strong disequilibrium in PD cases implicates an intragenic region likely to contain variants attributing to increased risk of PD, Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP) and Corticobasal Degeneration (CBD).

Marijuana remains the most commonly used illicit drug in the United States, with an estimated 97.5% of Americans age 12 or older having tried the substance at least once in their lifetimes (whitehousedrugpolicy.gov). Additionally, the ontogeny of cannab...

TRPV2 is a nonselective ligand-gated cation channel considered to be a transducer of high threshold sensory stimuli based on reports of its activation by noxious high heat and membrane stretch. However, further elucidation of its channel properties and ...

Because of the legalization of Cannabis in many jurisdictions and the trend of increasing Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content in Cannabis products, an urgent need exists to understand the impact of Cannabis use during pregnancy on fetal neurodevelopment and behavior. To this end, we exposed female Sprague Dawley rats to Cannabis smoke daily from gestational day 6 to 20 or room air. Maternal reproductive parameters, offspring behavior, and gene expression in the offspring amygdala were assessed. Body temperature was decreased in dams following smoke exposure and more fecal boli were observed in the chambers before and after smoke exposure in dams exposed to smoke. Maternal weight gain, food intake, gestational length, litter number, and litter weight were not altered by exposure to Cannabis smoke. A significant increase in the male-to-female ratio was noted in the Cannabis -exposed litters. In adulthood, male and female Cannabis smoke-exposed offspring explored the inner zone of an open field significantl...

Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP) and Corticobasal Degeneration (CBD) are sporadic parkinsonian disorders with Tau pathology that share many molecular and clinical features. Patients with these disorders experience relentless neurodegeneration and ty...

Cannabis or its psychoactive component delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol (∆9-THC) is the most commonly abused illicit drug by pregnant women. Despite its wide use, at present, the long-lasting effects on the adult brain of the offspring are still unclear. It ...

Abnormalities in executive function and the ability to successfully monitor and inhibit inappropriate behaviors have been reported in substance abusing individuals. Recent investigations which have utilized neuroimaging and neurocognitive techniques to evaluate frontal systems in heavy cannabis smokers have reported alterations during inhibitory tasks which require frontal processing. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) methods provide a quantitative estimate of white matter integrity, providing new insight at the microstructural level. We applied diffusion tensor imaging techniques (DTI) and a brief neurocognitive battery which included measures of frontal/executive function to examine the relationship between frontal white matter changes and neuropsychological performance in nine heavy cannabis smokers and 9 matched control subjects. DTI data were acquired on a 3.0 Tesla scanner using a diffusion weighted twice-refocused spin echo EPI sequence. Voxels (11cm3) were placed in the midline of the splenium of the ...

No study regarding effects of Δ9-THC and nicotine co-administration on motor functions is known. Therefore, it was interesting to investigate functional consequences of intracerebellar (ICB) microinfusion of nicotine on ICB Δ9-THC-induced ataxia. Cerebellum was selected because of its established role in Δ9-THC-induced ataxia. Using the Rotorod, the effect of direct ICB microinfusion of various doses of nicotine [5, 2.5,1.25ng] on Δ9-THC [20 µg]-induced ataxia was investigated. There was a significant (p<0.05) attenuation by ICB nicotine on Δ9-THC-induced ataxia in a dose-related manner. The highest nicotine dose (5 ng) virtually abolished the Δ9-THC-induced ataxia. ICB pretreatment with nicotine antagonist hexamethonium (1µg) significantly blocked nicotine’s ability to attenuate Δ9-THC-induced ataxia suggesting that a nicotine - Δ9-THC behavioral interaction involved participation of nAChR. To further elucidate specific subtype of nicotinic receptor involved in the attenuation of Δ9-THC-induced ataxia, di...

One of the more valid animal models of abuse potential and addictive liability of drugs is self-administration. Research employing the self-administration paradigm has yielded advancements in our understanding of both general neural reward mechanisms and more specific effects of cocaine, heroin, nicotine, alcohol, and other common drugs of abuse. However, despite the widespread use and abuse of marijuana in the general public for thousands of years, reliable self-administration of the active chemical, Δ-9-tetrahydrocannibinol (THC), has been achieved only recently and only in a single animal species, namely squirrel monkeys. We present the results of two attempts to train Sprague-Dawley rats to self-administer the drug through chronic indwelling jugular catheters. In the first experiment, rats were trained to self-administer cocaine and then tested daily at various doses of THC dissolved in a solution of saline, Tween-80, and ethanol. In the second experiment, rats were trained to lever press for a sucrose...