RECORDING AVAILABLE: ADAI Virtual Lunch & Learn: Quantifying Cannabis/THC Exposure During Pregnancy
11/06/2025
This session was hosted in November 2025. Find the recording here!
Quantification and prediction of human fetal THC exposure during pregnancy to inform fetal cannabis toxicity
Jashvant (Jash) D. Unadkat, Ph.D.
Professor, Dept. of Pharmaceuticals
University of Washington
Prenatal cannabis use is associated with neurodevelopmental deficits, likely due to exposure to the psychoactive cannabinoid, (-)-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), and its in vivo active metabolite, (±)-11-OH-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (11-OH-THC). A first step in determining causality is to quantify fetal exposure to these cannabinoids. This is a challenge as single umbilical venous plasma cannabinoid concentration, relative to the corresponding maternal plasma concentration, at term does not reflect fetal exposure to the cannabinoids. In contrast, such exposure, at term and earlier in gestation, can be predicted by a verified maternal-fetal physiologically based pharmacokinetic model.
In this session, Dr. Unadkat described the development and verification of such a model that allows prediction of fetal exposure to THC and 11-OH-THC, throughout pregnancy, for various doses and frequency of cannabis consumption, orally or by inhalation. Such predictions can guide future preclinical studies to inform risks associated with prenatal cannabis use.
