Mechanism of Prenatal Cannabinoid Exposure Mediated Memory Loss in Adolescent Offspring: Opportunities for Identifying Therapeutic Target

Cannabis use during pregnancy has increased by 62% from 2002 through 2014 and is now the most commonly used illicit drug during pregnancy, in part due to its ability to reduce morning sickness during pregnancy. Several studies have demonstrated that neural network activity which underlies typical cognitive and behavioral processes can be altered by prenatal cannabinoid exposure (PCE) leading to a long lasting effects on adult behavior. Here, we have investigated the impact of PCE in adolescent offspring in hippocampus dependent learning and memory via performing a series of behavioral, electrophysiological and immunochemical studies. An osmotic pump filled with either vehicle or the cannabinoid receptor full agonist WIN55, 212–2 (2 mg/kg body weight/day) was implanted subcutaneously in gestational day 4, which delivered the drug at a constant rate until the pups were born. Contextual Fear Conditioning and Morris Water Maze test were performed to investigate the hippocampus based memory revealing significa...