Marijuana May Cause Infertility In Men, But New Findings May Mean Treatment

Marijuana has been found to disrupt fertility in males, which, might even help scientists to evolve medicines to cure male infertility.

Three groups of mice with different agents were experimented upon for 14 to 21 days. The first group of mice received a specific activator of the CB2 receptor. The second group underwent specific inhibitor of the CB2 receptor or a cannabinoid receptor. The third group was subjected only to a saline receptor, being the control group.

The fist group treated with the CB2 activator was found to have an acceleration of spermatogenesis, even as the group treated with the inhibitor showed a slower rate of the process. Hence, it seems to be a "tight balance of CB2 activation" in order to show the proper progression of spermatogenesis.

"The possibility to improve male fertility is one of the main focuses of this study, since infertility is a worldwide problem that affects up to 15% of couples in which male factors account for almost 20 to 70%," said Paola Grimaldi, one of the researchers involved in the study  from the School of Medicine at the University of Rome Tor Vergata.

Therefore, a cannabinoid receptor, called CB2, can help to regulate the creation of sperm. Thus, researchers could evolve a therapeutic strategy to treat male infertility.

"That the normal beneficial effects of endogenous cannabinoids on spermatogenesis can be stimulated further by a chemical mimic, an agonist, is a potentially promising new idea for treating male infertility," said Thoru Pederson, Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB Journal.

The study was published in Dec. 15, 2015 issue of The FASEB Journal.