A single low dose of tetrahydrocannabinol induces long-term cognitive deficits

Isabella Tselnicker, Ora Keren, Aya Hefetz, Chaim G. Pick, Yosef Sarne*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

26 Scopus citations

Abstract

Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) was shown to exert either neuroprotective or neurotoxic effects. Based on our in vitro studies and on pharmacokinetic considerations, we have recently presented a hypothesis that explains this dual activity of THC. This explanation is based on the assumption that extremely low doses of cannabinoids are neurotoxic. The present study verifies this assumption and shows that a single injection of 0.001 mg/kg THC (3-4 orders of magnitude lower than conventional doses) significantly affected the performance of mice in the Morris water maze test 3 weeks later. The THC-injected mice showed both longer escape latencies and lower scores in the probe tests compared to their matched controls, indicating the induction of cognitive deficits.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)108-111
Number of pages4
JournalNeuroscience Letters
Volume411
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 10 Jan 2007

Funding

FundersFunder number
Israel Ministry of Health5909
Israel Science Foundation180/04

    Keywords

    • Cannabinoid
    • Morris water maze
    • Neurotoxicity
    • THC
    • Tetrahydrocannabinol

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