The effects of Cannabis sativa L. seed (hemp seed) on reproductive and neurobehavioral end points in rats

Abstract

This study determined the effects of maternal dietary intake of hemp seed on reproductive and neurobehavioral end points of Wistar rats. Time-mated rats were fed 100% hemp seed (n = 15), 50% hemp seed (n = 15) or basal diet (n = 15) once a day. The amount of food made available was based on control feed consumption records. All dams remained on their respective diets from premating (14 days) throughout gestation and lactation. After weaning, all pups were given their maternal diet until puberty. Mating and delivery weights of dams in all groups did not show significant changes. Number of pregnancies, number and post-natal survival rate of total rat pups, litter size and milk yield were lower in the group that received 100% hemp seed. Offspring that received 50% hemp seed diet expressed reproductive and neurobehavioral end points from a modified Fox battery earlier than rats on 100% hemp seed or basal diet, except acoustic startle results where no differences appeared. In conclusion, this study shows that hemp seed supplementation does not improve the reproductive and neurobehavioral performances of rats. Pregnant women and nursing mothers should be cautious about the using of Cannabis sativa L. byproducts in their diets.

Biosafety of multiwalled carbon nanotube in mice: a behavioral toxicological approach

“…It is noteworthy that we did not observe any obvious postmortem lesions in our macroscopic inspection. Lymphoid organ weights of off-spring as standard endpoints are important for evaluating developmental toxicity studies (Yousofi et al, 2011). However evaluating thymus weight and lymphoid organ weight changes in the absence of functional immune testing as indicators of immunotoxicity may be inappropriate.…”

“…Reproductive indices were evaluated using a modified version of the previous methods (Ratnasooriya et al, 2003;Yousofi et al, 2011). Briefly, sex distributions of offspring, defined as number of male pups/ number of female pups; gestation index, defined as the number of pregnant females with alive pups/the number of total females; post-natal survival rate, defined as the number of pups alive on postnatal day (PND) 4/the number of alive pups; and lactation rate, defined as weight of pups alive at PND 21/weight of pups on PND 4.…”

“…Briefly, milk yield = 0.0322 + 0.0667 (weight) + 0.877 (gain); where milk yield is daily yield per pup (g/pup/day), weight is pup weight (g), and gain is pup weight gain per day (g/day). Weight gain on PND 2 and PND 3 were considered to calculate milk yield (Yousofi et al, 2011).…”

“…The PND that 50% of the litter showed the mature response for any endpoints was considered I 50 of that litter (Amusquivar, 2000). Measurements of reflex ontogeny were assessed according to modified battery of Fox (1965), as described by Yousofi et al (2011): (a) surface righting reflex -pup is held on its back and then released to right up throughout 30 sec; (b) cliff aversion test -pup withdraws from edge of a flat surface when its snout and forepaws are placed over the cliff for 30 sec; (c) palm grasping reflex -pup grips a wooden rod with its forepaws while being suspended for 30 sec; (d) vibrissae placing reflex -pup places its forepaw on a cotton swab stroked across its vibrissae; (e) level or vertical stick reflex -pup grasps onto a wire mesh when gently pulled across the mesh by the tail if he/she displayed resistance this test is consider positive; (f) auditory startle reflex -pup shows a whole-body startle response when a loud clap of the hands occurs less than 15 cm away; (g) air righting reflex -pup turns in midair to land ventrally after being dropped from a prostrate position, 35-cm above a cotton wool pad; and (h) homing test -wood shavings from the litter home cage were evenly spread over one side of the new plastic cage, and the pup was placed close to the wall on the opposite side. If pup took less than 60 sec to get the goal area (home bedding), this test is considered positive.…”

Effects of prenatal exposure to single-wall carbon nanotubes on reproductive performance and neurodevelopment in mice

“…Body weights of the pregnant females were recorded on GD 1, 4, 7, 14, and delivery day (GD 21 or 22). Reproductive indices were evaluated using a modified version of the methods designed by Ratnasooriya et al (2003) as described by Yousofi et al (2011): gestation index ¼ (number of pregnant females with alive pups on birthday/number of total females); sex ratio ¼ (number of male pups/number of female pups); pup survival rate ¼ (number of pups alive on postnatal day (PND) 4/ number of pups alive on PND 1); lactation rate ¼ (weight of pups alive on day 21/weight of pups on PND 4) and milk production was determined by the method of Sampson and Jansen (1984) by the following equation: milk production ¼ [0.0322 þ 0.0667 (pup weight, g) þ 0.877 (pup weight gain/ day)]. Here, weight gain on PND 2 and PND 3 were considered for this equation (Ratnasooriya et al, 2003;Yousofi et al, 2011).…”