Priority communicationPrenatal Cannabis Exposure Increases Heroin Seeking with Allostatic Changes in Limbic Enkephalin Systems in Adulthood
Section snippets
Methods and Materials
All animal experiments were conducted in accordance with the guidelines of the European Community and The Swedish National Board for Laboratory Animals, under protocols approved by the Ethical Committee of Northern Stockholm.
Results
There was no significant group difference in the % weight gain by the pregnant females (vehicle 45.4 ± 1; THC 47.3 ± 3 g), gestational length (vehicle 21 ± .38; THC 20.8 ± .66 days), pup length at PND 2 (vehicle 6.98 ± .12; THC 7 ±.13 cm) and pup weight (vehicle 6.83 ±.18; THC 6.91 ±.16 g). There was also no significant difference (P = .565) in weight between animals pretreated with THC (317 ± 11 g) or vehicle- (330 ± 16 g) at the start of the heroin self-administration on PND 62.
Discussion
The present study provides evidence of enduring behavioral and neural impairments related to the opioid reward/stress limbic system in adult rats exposed prenatally to THC. Hyperactivity of the mesocorticolimbic enkephalinergic system was identified in adulthood that appeared a counteractive response to blunted PENK gene expression during the repeated THC exposure in early development.
The most direct experimental animal model to assess reward and reinforcement effects of drugs of abuse is the
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