Faculty Collaboration Database

Adolescent THC Treatment Does Not Potentiate the Behavioral Effects in Adulthood of Maternal Immune Activation. Cells 2021 Dec 11;10(12)

Date

12/25/2021

Pubmed ID

34944011

Pubmed Central ID

PMC8700174

DOI

10.3390/cells10123503

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-85121034066 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   7 Citations

Abstract

Both in utero exposure to maternal immune activation and cannabis use during adolescence have been associated with increased risk for the development of schizophrenia; however, whether these exposures exert synergistic effects on brain function is not known. In the present study, mild maternal immune activation (MIA) was elicited in mice with prenatal exposure to polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid (poly(I:C)), and ∆⁹-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) was provided throughout adolescence in cereal (3 mg/kg/day for 5 days). Neither THC nor MIA pretreatments altered activity in assays used to characterize hyperdopaminergic states in adulthood: amphetamine hyperlocomotion and prepulse inhibition of the acoustic startle reflex. Adolescent THC treatment elicited deficits in spatial memory and enhanced spatial reversal learning in adult female mice in the Morris water maze, while exposure to MIA elicited female-specific deficits in fear extinction learning in adulthood. There were no effects in these assays in adult males, nor were there interactions between THC and MIA in adult females. While doses of poly(I:C) and THC were sufficient to elicit behavioral effects, particularly relating to cognitive performance in females, there was no evidence that adolescent THC exposure synergized with the risk imposed by MIA to worsen behavioral outcomes in adult mice of either sex.

Author List

Stollenwerk TM, Hillard CJ

Author

Cecilia J. Hillard PhD Associate Dean, Center Director, Professor in the Pharmacology and Toxicology department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Aging
Amphetamine
Animals
Behavior, Animal
Conditioning, Classical
Dronabinol
Extinction, Psychological
Fear
Female
Locomotion
Male
Maze Learning
Mice
Mice, Inbred C57BL
Pregnancy
Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects
Prepulse Inhibition
Rats
Rats, Sprague-Dawley
Reflex, Startle
Swimming