December 2016

Prenatal cannabis exposure - The “first hit” to the endocannabinoid system 

Neurotoxicology and Teratology xxx (2016) xxx–xxx

An interesting review of cannabis exposure during pregnancy. The authors concede that is no evidence of structural, cognitive, behavioural or functional abnormalities due to exposure during pregnancy. However marijuana use during pregnancy is hypothesised to perturb the fetal endogenous cannabinoid signalling system which is important in regulating cardiovascular processes. Thus they propose a two-hit hypothesis with prenatal exposure predisposes exposed offspring to abnormalities in cognition and altered emotionality.

Pregnancy outcomes after maternal varenicline use; analysis of surveillance data collected by the European Network of Teratology Information Services. 

Reproductive Toxicology 67 (2017) 26–34.

 Varenicline (Champix) is a smoking cessation aid. This ENTIS study compared 89  Varenicline first-trimester-exposed pregnancies with 267 control and 78 nicotine-replacement or bupropion replacement pregnancies. There was no increase in major malformation rate.

Assessment of YouTube videos as a source of information on medication use in pregnancy. 

Pharmacoepidemiology and drug safety 2016; 25: 35–44

The internet is already a large source of information for mothers but YouTube also videos also discuss drug use in pregnancy. This study viewed 314 videos finding the majority were from law firms (67%). The most common class of drug was SSRIs (72%) with 88% of these claiming SSRIs were unsafe for use on pregnancy in contrast to TERIS which rates this drug class as a “minimal” or “unlikely” risk.