The Update/Article

Marijuana may impair female fertility

Date:
April 2, 2020
Source:
The Endocrine Society

Link: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/04/200402134628.htm

Female eggs exposed to THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, have an

impaired ability to produce viable embryos, and are significantly less likely to result in a
viable pregnancy, according to an animal study accepted for presentation at ENDO 2020,
the Endocrine Society's annual meeting.

Marijuana, or cannabis, is the most commonly used recreational drug by people of

reproductive age. The rise in marijuana use has occurred at the same time that THC
percentages in the drug have increased. "Currently, patients seeking infertility treatments
are advised against cannabis use, but the scientific evidence backing this statement is
weak," said Master student Megan Misner, part of the research laboratory led by Laura
Favetta, Ph.D., in the Department of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Guelph in
Canada. "This makes it difficult for physicians to properly advise patients undergoing in
vitro fertilization."

In the new study, researchers treated cow oocytes, or female eggs, with concentrations of
THC equivalent to therapeutic and recreational doses. The oocytes were collected and
matured into five groups: untreated, control, low THC, mid THC and high THC.

The eggs' developmental rates and gene expression were measured. The researchers
evaluated the ability of embryos to reach critical stages of development at specific time
points. With higher concentrations of THC, they found a significant decrease and delay
in the ability of the treated oocytes to reach these checkpoints. "This is a key indicator in
determining the quality and developmental potential of the egg," Misner said.

THC exposure led to a significant decrease in the expression of genes called connexins,
which are present at increased levels in higher quality oocytes. Poorer quality oocytes,
with lower connexin expression levels, have been shown to lead to a poorer embryo
development. "This embryo would be less likely to proceed past the first week of
development, and thus lead to infertility," Misner said.

Preliminary data also showed THC affected the activity of a total of 62 genes in the
treatment groups compared with the non-treated groups. "This implies lower quality and
lower fertilization capability, therefore lower fertility in the end," she said.
 Summary
Marijuana or cannabis is normally advised to be avoided by women who sought to
conceive a child but back then there is no scientific studies that backs it up. So, health
care workers have a hard time to convince clients to totally avoid using it. A laboratory
in a University in Canada conducted experiments with cow oocytes. They administered
different levels of THC, a psychoactive ingredient in marijuanas, in several oocytes and
results showed that the higher the levels of THC, the poorer the quality of the oocyte
which leads to lower fertilization chances.

Reflection
What are important points mentioned in the update 

The very important point in the update is that there is a scientific evidence that
utilization of Marijuana while a woman is trying to or plans to conceive a child, has
negative effects and lowers the chances of fertilization. It was also pointed out that the
greater the consumption of marijuana, the lower the chances of the oocyte to be
fertilized. Genes called connexins has decreased in levels which means that the embryo
can’t survive.

How would you address the  concerns stated in the update

This update for me is very helpful. Here in the Philippines, we condemn marijuana
and we consider it to belong to groups of illegal drugs but I still know people who use it
for recreational purposes. They stated that it is to cure their depression. It was only tested
on cow but I think it is a very solid reason to give to your client when they are advised
not to take cannabis when they are also trying or plans to conceive. If cannabis is used by
a client as an anti-depressant, I’d still advise not to use it just to make sure the the female
egg produced is healthy and will not have defects.

Make a critique of the topic

Marijuana for me should never be used for recreational purposes though people
indeed use it to escape their problems and fight their depression. A woman, trying to
conceive a child but has a hard time to, might be subject to depression could easily
choose to smoke weed to escape the frustrations and sadness. This update might have
been done on cows and not to human egg cell (might be due to ethical problems), is
already a very valuable information that we, future health workers can share to our future
clients. It might be able to provide answers to them too if they are so frustrated and
wondering why they can’t have a child. I think it is very important to know what is the
cause in able to solve it.

Make your own conclusion

There are a lot of countries now has already legalized marijuana and if not there are also
some that are not too strict about it. People who use it, may it be recreational or medical,
are growing too. It is important for the females who wants to smoke weed to know the
effects of it on their oocytes or eggs so that they would be able to avoid frustrations and
sadness brought upon by subfertility or infertilty. It would bring them more down if they
knew, their habits is the one that brought subfertility to themselves. That is why I think,
this update has been very very helpful.