Affiliation:
1. INMED, INSERM, Aix-Marseille University, 13273 Marseille, France
Abstract
Many expectant mothers use CBD to alleviate symptoms like nausea, insomnia, anxiety, and pain, despite limited research on its long-term effects. However, CBD passes through the placenta, affecting fetal development and impacting offspring behavior. We investigated how prenatal CBD exposure affects the insular cortex (IC), a brain region involved in emotional processing and linked to psychiatric disorders. The IC is divided into two territories: the anterior IC (aIC), processing socioemotional signals, and the posterior IC (pIC), specializing in interoception and pain perception. Pyramidal neurons in the aIC and pIC exhibit sex-specific electrophysiological properties, including variations in excitability and the excitatory/inhibitory balance. We investigated IC’s cellular properties and synaptic strength in the offspring of both sexes from mice exposed to low-dose CBD during gestation (E5–E18; 3 mg/kg, s.c.). Prenatal CBD exposure induced sex-specific and territory-specific changes in the active and passive membrane properties, as well as intrinsic excitability and the excitatory/inhibitory balance, in the IC of adult offspring. The data indicate that in utero CBD exposure disrupts IC neuronal development, leading to a loss of functional distinction between IC territories. These findings may have significant implications for understanding the effects of CBD on emotional behaviors in offspring.
Funder
Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale
NIH
IReSP and INCa in the framework of a call for doctoral grant applications
framework of a call for projects to combat the use of and addiction to psychoactive substances