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The Cannabis Papers
- a citizen's guide to cannabinoids
by Publius
Uterine cannabinoids and the beginning of human life
"Do you want pregnant women to smoke pot?"
That question bounced around the room (and in my head) for a moment. And the answer is an equivocal "Yes" — but the reason why I hesitate is the word "smoke."
Here's a better question — "Do you want pregnant women to consume cannabinoids?" The answer to that question might surprise you, but this is too important of an issue to be wrong — no matter what misconceptions one might have. Current research is confirming a new theory: cannabinoids play a fundamental role in a healthy and successful pregnancy.
First of all, there is no such thing as a drug-free pregnancy. The making of a baby is a biological and chemical phenomenon that every adult is somewhat familiar with. We know cells divide, organs grow, parts mature, and then birth — and the mystery of fertility goes on.
One aspect of fertility is becoming significantly less mysterious. A 2006 report from the Pediatrics Department at Vanderbilt University characterized endocannabinoids as "an emerging concept in female reproduction." Why such praise? Because of what they found: a "cannabinoid sensor" mechanism to influence crucial steps during early pregnancy.
Pregnancy is a stress to the body. To modulate that stress, the ECS responds by creating endocannabinoids — the body's version of "first responders." By first responders I am referring to what the Vanderbilt research termed the "endocannabinoid signaling in preimplantation embryo development and activation." One of the first things the fertilized embryo must do is to attach itself to the lining of the uterus. Without becoming attached to the uterine wall, which forms the umbilical cord, there will be no pregnancy. Here is where cannabinoids play a key role: for the embryo to become attached to the lining of the uterus, a particular range (or amount) of one specific endocannabinoid, called anandamide, is necessary. This endocannabinoid uses the CB1 receptors that are on the blastocyst (fertilized egg) — the same type of receptors that the herbal cannabinoid THC uses. The Vanderbilt research shows that if there is not enough of the endocannabinoid anandamide, or too much anandamide, the embryo will not become attached to the uterine lining. Here is the visual representation presented by the Vanderbilt research team:[ 1 ]
The Vanderbilt research shows how the fertilized egg is dependent on a functioning ECS — and specifically, the endocannabinoid anandamide and the CB1 receptor. To make this more charming and less scientific, one could say that once upon a time there was a baby Publius. And before I was a baby, before even a fetus or an anything — there was this one sperm that was part of making me — and it was the smallest cell in the human body, only swimming 3mm a minute. And that single cell had a ways to travel. The journey to conception begins in one organ and ends up in another — from gonads to vagina, passing through the cervix, the uterus, and into a fallopian tube where the smallest human cell joins with the largest — my mother's egg. So the sperm and the egg meet and off they go to form . . .
No — not yet — there is another part to the story. Until the now fertilized egg attaches itself to something, in this case, the lining of the uterus, there is no viable pregnancy — just a fertilized egg. That is why the Vanderbilt research is important. It points to a revolution in our way of thinking about cannabis and the cannabinoids it contains. For example, a fertilized egg is cannabinoid dependent. It, the life of the egg and the beginning of a viable pregnancy, depends on a healthy ECS. It takes the right amount of cannabinoids to activate a certain number of CB1 receptors in order for the fertilized egg to attach itself to the uterus. This process is accomplished because there are CB1 receptors on the blastocyst — that is, on the fertilized egg itself — and the cannabinoid anandamide on the endometrium — the inner lining of the uterus.
Cannabinoids are not only one of the first responses of the body to fertility, they also play a role in other aspects of pregnancy as well. A 2004 study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology concluded: "Both endogenous and exogenous cannabinoids exert a potent and direct relaxant effect on human pregnant myometrium, which is mediated through the CB1 receptor." This means that the middle layer of the uterine wall, the "myometrium," is modulated by cannabinoids as well. — And as a reminder, these uterine CB1 receptors are activated by endocannabinoids as well herbal and synthetic cannabinoids.
In addition to conception, another 2004 report showed that endocannabinoids activate the oral motor musculature necessary for newborn mice to nurse — which makes sense because breast milk contains endocannabinoids. The same 2004 study also stated "Anandamide has neuroprotectant properties in the developing postnatal brain." And of course, all of this is new, right? — No. Fourteen years ago, in 1995, there was lab research on mice that showed that the mammalian ECS is involved in signaling within the uterus.
So let's review: cannabinoid receptors are located on the blastocyst, the fertilized egg, making the implantation of the egg cannabinoid dependent. We've also learned that throughout pregnancy and during nursing that the ECS delivers relief and neuroprotection to mother, fetus, and baby. That sounds pretty important — important enough to rethink the guilt, fear, shame, hesitation, and reticence of using cannabis to modulate the ECS before, during, and after pregnancy — as it seems that nature thought of it way before we did.
And no, pregnant women don't have to smoke blunts or joints to get their cannabinoids. There are easier ways to consume cannabinoids. Simply put, expectant mothers and new moms could consume cannabinoids in baked goods, tinctures, teas or whatever form is best for them. Harm reduction is the key. Perhaps in the future the health of a woman's ECS, and its effects on fetus and baby, will be the focus of pregnancy and not the fear mongering of "smoked marijuana." In the future, mothers-to-be might want to start asking their doctors something like, "How are my anandamide levels? — Too high or too low?" Or perhaps even more likely, maybe the doctors will be asking the mothers, "Have you had your cannabis brownie today?"
Publius
Footnotes 1 Endocannabinoid signaling directs peri-implantation events, AAPS J, Wang H., Xie H., and Dey SK., Pediatrics Vanderbilt University, 2006. http://www.aapsj.org - Back to Text
Search terms Uterine cannabinoids: anandamide: CB1 receptors: neuroprotection cannabinoids: breast milk (prolactin, oxytocin and cannabinoids): Ester Fride (1953-2010).
Research and selected readings
2008: Ester Fride, Multiple roles for the endocannabinoid system during the earliest stages of life: pre- and post-natal development, Journal of Endocrinology, May 2008:20 Supplement 1:75-81.
2007: Tibor Harkany et al, The emerging functions of endocannabinoid signaling during CNS development, Trends in Pharmacological Sciences, February 2007:28(2):83-92.
2007: Paul Berghuis, et al, Hardwiring the brain: endocannabinoids shape neuronal connectivity, May 2007:316(5828):1212-1216.
2006: H. Wang et al, Endocannabinoid signaling directs peri-implantation events, American Association Pharmaceutical Scientists Journal, 2006:8(2):425-32.
2004: MC Dennedy et al, Cannabinoids and the human uterus during pregnancy, American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, January 2004:190(1):2-9.
2004: Ester Fride, The endocannabinoid-CB(1) receptor system in pre- and postnatal life, European Journal of Pharmacology, October 2004:500(1-3):289-297.
2001: BC Paria, et al, Dysregulated Cannabinoid Signaling Disrupts Uterine Receptivity for Embryo Implantation, Journal Biological Chemistry, June 2001:276(23):20523-8.
1995: SK Das et al, Cannabinoid ligand-receptor signaling in the mouse uterus, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, May 1995:92(10):4332-6.
1994: Melanie C. Dreher, et al, Prenatal Marijuana Exposure and Neonatal Outcomes in Jamaica: An Ethnographic Study, Pediatrics - American Academy of Pediatrics, February 1994:93(2)254-260.
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