Researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus have found that cannabidiol (CBD), often used to treat anxiety and nausea, can potentially harm a developing fetus.
The paper was published in Molecular Psychiatry today.
People consume cannabis or a non-psychoactive component cannabidiol (CBD) to help with nausea and anxiety during pregnancy because they think it is safe and healthy. But CBD crosses the placenta and accumulates in the fetal brain.
Until now, no one knew how fetal exposure to CBD affected brain development, said Emily Bates, PhD, an associate professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and lead author of the study.
“We found oral consumption of a high dose of CBD during pregnancy impaired problem solving in female mice,” said Bates, who worked with Karli Swenson, a graduate student in her lab.
Along with fellow researchers, Won Chan Oh, PhD, Luis Gomez-Wulschner and Victoria Hoelscher, the team discovered that fetal exposure to CBD reduced the excitability of the pre-frontal cortex, a part of the brain important for learning.
They also found that increased pain sensitivity occurred only in male mice while cognitive impairments happened only in females. Bates said more research is needed to understand why the effects of CBD are sex-specific.
The perceived benefits of CBD are widely accepted in the U.S. where many view it as a safe alternative for treating the nausea, anxiety, and pain associated with…
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