Dataset Information

Sex Differences in the Acute Effects of Oral THC: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Crossover Human Laboratory Study.

ABSTRACT:

Rationale

Recent reports have shown increased cannabis use among women, leading to growing concerns about cannabis use disorder (CUD). Some evidence suggests a faster progression to addiction in women, known as the "telescoping effect." While there is preclinical evidence suggesting biological sex influences cannabinoid effects, human research remains scant. We investigated sex differences in the response to oral tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in humans.

Methods

56 healthy men and women with prior exposure to cannabis but no history of CUD participated in a randomized, placebo-controlled, human laboratory study where they received a single 10 mg dose of oral THC (dronabinol). Subjective psychoactive effects were assessed by the visual analog scale of "high", psychotomimetic effects by the Clinician-Administered Dissociative Symptoms Scale and Psychotomimetic States Inventory, verbal learning and memory by Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT), and physiological effects by heart rate. Outcomes were regularly measured on the test day, except for the RAVLT, which was assessed once. Peak differences from baseline were analyzed using a nonparametric method for repeated measures.

Results

Oral THC demonstrated significant dose-related effects in psychotomimetic and physiological domains, but not in RAVLT outcomes. A notable interaction between THC dose and sex emerged concerning the subjective "high" scores, with women reporting heightened sensations (p=0.05). No other significant effects of sex and THC dose interaction were observed.

Conclusion

Oral THC yields similar psychotomimetic and physiological effects across sexes, but women may experience a pronounced subjective psychoactive effect. Further research is needed to identify individual vulnerabilities and facilitate tailored interventions addressing CUD.

SUBMITTER: Aghaei AM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10705657 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Sex Differences in the Acute Effects of Oral THC: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Crossover Human Laboratory Study.

Aghaei Ardavan Mohammad AM Spillane Lia Urban LU Pittman Brian B Flynn L Taylor LT De Aquino Joao P JP Nia Anahita Bassir AB Ranganathan Mohini M

medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences 20240312

<h4>Rationale</h4>Recent reports have shown increased cannabis use among women, leading to growing concerns about cannabis use disorder (CUD). Some evidence suggests a faster progression to addiction in women, known as the "telescoping effect." While there is preclinical evidence suggesting biological sex influences cannabinoid effects, human research remains scant. We investigated sex differences in the response to oral tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in humans.<h4>Methods</h4>56 healthy men and wom ...[more]

PMID: 38077095

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Project description:BackgroundCannabis is the most common illicit drug used in the USA and its use has been rising over the past decade, while the historical gap in rates of use between men and women has been decreasing. Sex differences in the effects of cannabinoids have been reported in animal models, but human studies are sparse and inconsistent. We investigated the sex differences in the acute subjective, psychotomimetic, cognitive, and physiological effects of intravenous (IV) delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive constituent of cannabis.MethodsHealthy male and female individuals, with limited exposure to cannabis, participated in a double blind, placebo-controlled study of intravenous (IV) placebo or THC at two doses (0.015 mg/kg and 0.03 mg/kg). Visual analog scale (VAS) was used to measure subjective effects, Psychotomimetic States Inventory (PSI) and the Clinician-Administered Dissociative Symptoms Scale (CADSS) were used to assess the psychotomimetic effects and perceptual alterations, respectively, and Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Task (RAVLT) was used to evaluate cognitive effects. Outcome variables were represented as the peak change from baseline for each variable, except RAVLT which was used only once per the test day after the subjective effects.ResultsA total of 42 individuals participated in this study. There were no significant differences between male and female participants in background characteristics. There was a significant main effect of sex on the VAS scores for THC-induced "High" (F1,38 = 4.27, p < 0.05) and a significant dose × sex interaction (F2,77 = 3.38, p < 0.05) with female participants having greater "High" scores than male participants at the lower THC dose (0.015 mg/kg). No other sex differences were observed in acute subjective, psychotomimetic, cognitive, or physiological effects of THC.ConclusionThere were significant sex differences in subjective effects of feeling "High" at a lower dose of THC. However, there were no other sex-related differences in the subjective, physiological, or cognitive effects of THC.

Dataset Information

Sex Differences in the Acute Effects of Oral THC: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Crossover Human Laboratory Study.

Rationale

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Publications

Sex Differences in the Acute Effects of Oral THC: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Crossover Human Laboratory Study.

Similar Datasets

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