ArticleBiological psychiatry2011
Maternal cannabis use alters ventral striatal dopamine D2 gene regulation in the offspring.
Article in Biological psychiatry, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04422600 (Fetal Exposure to Cannabinoids), which is not on this map. Cited by 152 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Fetal Exposure to Cannabinoids: Exposure, Methylation and Neurodevelopmental Effects
Who cites it
152 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 279 citations in OpenAlex.
- Systematic review: the impact of maternal pre-and postnatal cannabis use on the behavioral and emotional regulation in early childhood.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2025Pooled it
- A neurobiological pathway to smoking in adolescence: TTC12-ANKK1-DRD2 variants and reward response.European neuropsychopharmacology : the journal of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2018Pooled it
- Epigenetic markers as predictors of neurotoxicity and abuse potential of psychotropic drugs: integration of epigenetic modifications in New Approach Methodologies.Archives of toxicology · 2026Review
- The endocannabinoid system and the ageing brain.Nature reviews. Neuroscience · 2026Review
- Article
- Medical Cannabis During Pregnancy and Breastfeeding: Is the Concern Fully Evidence-Based?Biomedicines · 2026Article
- Prenatal THC exposure disrupts mitochondrial respiratory gene programs and medium spiny neuron maturation trajectories in the nucleus accumbens.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Prenatal cannabis use is associated with altered miRNA and protein expression in the developing human brain.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2026Article
- New approach to document cannabis toxicity during pregnancy: a low abundance molecular species detection in long-term formalin-fixed paraffin embedded fetal tissues. A technological report.International journal of legal medicine · 2026Article
- Concurrent maternal stress and THC exposure alters maternal regulation and downstream adolescent corticolimbic programs.Translational psychiatry · 2026Article
- The changing landscape of cannabis use: impact on maternal health and neonatal outcomes.Pediatric research · 2026Review
- Altered Neurobehavioral Reward Response Predicts Psychotic-Like Experiences in Youth Exposed to Cannabis Prenatally.Biological psychiatry · 2026Article
- Investigating Links Between Prenatal Cannabis Exposure and Brain Development Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging Techniques: A Narrative Review.Biological psychiatry global open science · 2026Review
- The Effect of Prenatal Marijuana Exposure on White Matter Microstructure and Cortical Morphology during Late Childhood.AJNR. American journal of neuroradiology · 2025Article
- Personality-based intergenerational effects of prenatal THC exposure in an inherited mouse model of social dominance and submissiveness.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Cannabinoid CB1 receptor-sensitive neurodevelopmental processes and trajectories.Molecular psychiatry · 2025Review
- Parental substance use history density and its influence on reward anticipation brain activation in late childhood and early adolescence.Developmental cognitive neuroscience · 2025Article
- Article
- Prenatal cannabis exposure is associated with alterations in offspring DNA methylation at genes involved in neurodevelopment, across the life course.Molecular psychiatry · 2025Article
- Review
92 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundPrenatal cannabis exposure has been linked to addiction vulnerability, but the neurobiology underlying this risk is unknown.
methodsStriatal dopamine and opioid-related genes were studied in human fetal subjects exposed to cannabis (as well as cigarettes and alcohol). Cannabis-related gene disturbances observed in the human fetus were subsequently characterized with an animal model of prenatal Δ-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) (.15 mg/kg) exposure.
resultsPrenatal cannabis exposure decreased dopamine receptor D2 (DRD2) messenger RNA expression in the human ventral striatum (nucleus accumbens [NAc]), a key brain reward region. No significant alterations were observed for the other genes in cannabis-exposed subjects. Maternal cigarette use was associated with reduced NAc prodynorphin messenger RNA expression, and alcohol exposure induced broad alterations primarily in the dorsal striatum of most genes. To explore the mechanisms underlying the cannabis-associated disturbances, we exposed pregnant rats to THC and examined the epigenetic regulation of the NAc Drd2 gene in their offspring at postnatal day 2, comparable to the human fetal period studied, and in adulthood. Chromatin immunoprecipitation of the adult NAc revealed increased 2meH3K9 repressive mark and decreased 3meH3K4 and RNA polymerase II at the Drd2 gene locus in the THC-exposed offspring. Decreased Drd2 expression was accompanied by reduced dopamine D2 receptor (D(2)R) binding sites and increased sensitivity to opiate reward in adulthood.
conclusionsThese data suggest that maternal cannabis use alters developmental regulation of mesolimbic D(2)R in offspring through epigenetic mechanisms that regulate histone lysine methylation, and the ensuing reduction of D(2)R might contribute to addiction vulnerability later in life.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.