Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), a major psychoactive constituent of marijuana, can substantially change the function of several brain areas, leading to behavioral impairment including memory and learning dysfunction. Given the importance of hippocampus as one of the chief parts of the brain involved in memory processing, the present study seeks to investigate structural and histological alterations in hippocampus as well as behavioral defects provoked by THC treatment. Besides, using genome-wide sequencing, we adopted a pathway-based approach to discover dysregulated molecular pathways. Our results demonstrated remarkable hippocampal atrophy, and also interrupted memory function and long term potentiation (LTP) under THC exposure. We also detected several dysregulated signaling pathways involved in synaptic plasticity as well as cell-cell interaction in the hippocampus of THC-treated rats. Overall, the results indicate a potential correlation between disrupted signaling cascades, hippocampal atrophy and memory defects caused by THC treatment.

四氢大麻酚 (THC) 是大麻的主要精神活性成分，可以显着改变多个大脑区域的功能，导致包括记忆和学习功能障碍在内的行为障碍。鉴于海马体作为参与记忆处理的大脑主要部分之一的重要性，本研究旨在调查海马体的结构和组织学改变以及 THC 治疗引起的行为缺陷。此外，使用全基因组测序，我们采用了基于通路的方法来发现失调的分子通路。我们的结果表明海马体显着萎缩，并且在 THC 暴露下也中断了记忆功能和长期增强 (LTP)。我们还检测到 THC 治疗大鼠海马体中涉及突触可塑性以及细胞间相互作用的几种失调信号通路。总体而言，结果表明信号级联中断、海马萎缩和 THC 治疗引起的记忆缺陷之间存在潜在相关性。