Using cannabis may cause changes in the human body’s epigenome, a study of over 1,000 adults suggests. The epigenome functions like a set of switches, activating or deactivating genes to change how our bodies function.
“We observed associations between cumulative marijuana use and multiple epigenetic markers across time,” explained epidemiologist Lifang Hou from Northwestern University when the research was published in 2023.
Cannabis is a commonly used substance in the United States, with 49 percent of people trying it at least once, Hou and a team of US researchers report in their published paper.
Some US states and other countries have made cannabis legal, but we still don’t fully understand its effects on our health.
The researchers studied around 1,000 adults who had participated in a long-term previous study where they had been asked about their cannabis use over a 20-year period.
Study participants provided blood samples on two occasions during that time, at the 15- and 20-year points. They were aged between 18 and 30 at baseline, or ‘year 0’.
Using these blood samples from five years apart, Hou and her team looked at the epigenetic changes, specifically DNA methylation levels, of people who had used cannabis recently or for a long time.
The addition or removal of methyl groups from DNA is one of the most studied epigenetic modifications. Without changing the genomic sequence, it changes the activity of genes, because it’s harder for cells to read the genome instruction manual with these molecular changes in their way.
H/T: www.sciencealert.com
You can view the whole article at this link Cannabis Use Linked to Epigenetic Changes, Study Finds
