Gestational exposure to cannabidiol leads to glucose intolerance in 3-month-old male offspring.

Reports in North America suggest that up to 20% of young women (18-24 years) use cannabis during pregnancy. This is concerning given clinical studies indicate that maternal cannabis use is associated with fetal growth restriction and dysglycemia in the offspring. Preclinical studies demonstrated that prenatal exposure to Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol, the main psychoactive component of cannabis, in rat dams led to female-specific deficits in ß-cell mass and glucose intolerance/insulin resistance. Yet to date, the contributions of cannabidiol (CBD), the primary nonpsychoactive compound in cannabis, remain elusive. This study aimed to define the effects of in utero cannabidiol (CBD) exposure on postnatal glucose regulation. Pregnant Wistar rat dams received daily intraperitoneal injections of either a vehicle solution or 3 mg/kg of CBD from gestational day (GD) 6 to parturition. CBD exposure did not lead to observable changes in maternal or neonatal outcomes; however, by 3 months of age male CBD-exposed offspring exhibited glucose intolerance despite no changes in pancreatic ß/α-cell mass. Transcriptomic analysis on the livers of these CBD-exposed males revealed altered gene expression of circadian rhythm clock machinery, which is linked to systemic glucose intolerance. Furthermore, alterations in hepatic developmental and metabolic processes were also observed, suggesting gestational CBD exposure has a long-lasting detrimental effect on liver health throughout life. Collectively, these results indicate that exposure to CBD alone in pregnancy may be detrimental to the metabolic health of the offspring later in life.

Microbead beating extraction of avian eggs for polycyclic aromatic compounds.

Due to their relatively high trophic position and importance as a food source for many communities in the circumpolar north, seabird eggs are an important matrix for monitoring contaminant levels. In fact, many countries, including Canada, have established long-term seabird egg contaminant monitoring programs, with oil related compounds a contaminant of emerging concern for seabirds in several regions. Current approaches to measuring many contaminant burdens in seabird eggs are time-consuming and often require large volumes of solvent. Here we propose an alternative approach, based on the principle of microbead beating tissue extraction using custom designed stainless-steel extraction tubes and lids, to measure a suite of 75 polycyclic aromatic compounds (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), alkyl-PAHs, halogenated-PAHs and some heterocyclic compounds) comprising a wide-range of chemical properties. Our method was conducted in strict accordance with ISO/IEC 17025 guidelines for method validation. Accuracies for our analytes generally ranged from 70 - 120%, and intra and inter-day repeatability for most analytes were < 30%. Limits of detection/quantitation for the 75 target analytes were < 0.2/0.6 ng g-1. The level of contamination in our method blanks was significantly smaller in our stainless-steel tubes/lids relative to commercially available high-density plastic alternatives. Overall, our method meets our data quality objectives and results in a notable reduction in sample processing times relative to current approaches.