Exposure to the cannabinoid agonist WIN 55, 212-2 in adolescent rats causes sleep alterations that persist until adulthood.

Exposure to the cannabinoid agonist WIN 55, 212-2 in adolescent rats causes sleep alterations that persist until adulthood. Eur J Pharmacol. 2020 Feb 08;:172911 Authors: Macías-Triana L, Romero-Cordero K, Tatum-Kuri A, Vera-Barrón A, Millán-Aldaco D, Arankowsky-Sandoval G, Piomelli D, Murillo-Rodríguez E Abstract Cannabis and, to a lesser extent, synthetic cannabinoids are used during adolescence, a period in which multiple brain areas are still undergoing development. Among such areas is the hypothalamus, which is implicated in the control of sleep-wake cycle. In the present report, we show that exposing adolescent rats to the cannabinoid receptor agonist WIN 55, 212-2 (0.1, 0.3 or 1.0 mg/kg, i.p) for 14 days during adolescence (i.e., from post-natal day 30-44) resulted in significant sleep disturbances when the animals became adult (post-natal day 80). These included decreased wakefulness and enhanced rapid eye movement sleep. Furthermore, we found that labeling for NeuN, a marker of postmitotic neurons, was significantly increased the dorsomedial hypothalamic nucleus of rats treated with WIN 55, 212-2. The results suggest that excessive cannabinoid receptor activation during adolescence can persistently influence sleep patterns and neuronal activity later in life. PMID: 32045604 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: European Journal of Pharmacology - Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Authors: Tags: Eur J Pharmacol Source Type: research