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Duke’s CIPHERS Project Studying Epigenetic Sperm Changes in Male Cannabis Users By Bryan Luukinen and Samuel Cohen Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University
The landscape of marijuana legalization and public opinion on marijuana use in the U.S. are shifting rapidly. An increasing number of states have legalized recreational marijuana use, with 11 states plus Washington D.C. currently allowing recreational use. Today, more Americans perceive marijuana to be safe, and an increasing percentage of adults now use marijuana. Over the past few decades, the concentration of THC in marijuana has significantly increased, making it more potent. Modern use methods such as vaping, dabbing, and the use of high-THC resins can offer THC concentrations upwards of 75%. Criminal justice reform and increased tax revenues are touted benefits of the regulatory shifts, but public health and medical practitioners still need to address the potential consequences of use by at-risk groups including adolescents and pregnant women.
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Around pregnancy, efforts to study the potential effects of marijuana have focused almost exclusively on women. Although the available science has some limitations and uncertainties, groups like the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists advise women not use marijuana during pregnancy or while breastfeeding. Few resources have been devoted to studying potential preconception use among men. In the future, family physicians should expect questions about marijuana use around family planning and pregnancy to come up more and more often. The Cannabis-Induced Potential Heritability of Epigenetic Revisions in Sperm (CIPHERS) Project at Duke University seeks to understand the impact of male marijuana use on the epigenetic profile of sperm, and male fertility and preconception health. Through research in humans and animals, our team works to understand how marijuana effects sperm, whether these effects are passed on to offspring, and whether abstaining from use might reverse these effects. Nearly all of our cells carry the same genes, but cells in different parts of the body look different and do different things, in part because of epigenetics Our findings are preliminary, but do seem to indicate that marijuana use may alter certain epigenetic marks in the sperm of those exposed. Our pilot study also found an association between marijuana use and lower sperm counts. Our most recent study identified a specific gene linked with autism that appears to undergo changes
The North Carolina Family Physician
