Table 1. Effects of marijuana or Δ⁹-THC on circulating gonadotropins, prolactin and ovarian hormones in female humans and rhesus monkeys.

				Treatment			Primary outcomes of treatment condition (marijuana or Δ9-THC)
Ref	Subjects	Design	Dose	Route	Timing	FSH	LH	E2	P	PRL
18	5 female rhesus monkeys	repeated measures	Δ9-THC (2.5 mg/kg) or vehicle	IM	daily during the follicular phase	n.d.	Supressed LH surge	Altered patters of circulating total estrogens across the cycle (supressed pre-ovulatory spike)	Suppressed luteal elevation of P	No effect
20	4 female rhesus monkeys	repeated measures	Δ9-THC (2.5 mg/kg) or vehicle	IM	daily during the luteal phase (from the day after ovulation until menses)	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	No effect	n.d.
21,22	8 healthy human female marijuana users	repeated measures, double blind, placebo controlled	1-gram standardized marijuana joint (1.83% Δ9-THC) or placebo joint	inh	single dose during follicular phase	n.d.	No effect	No effect	No effect	No effect
21,22	8 healthy human female marijuana users	repeated measures, double blind, placebo controlled	1-gram standardized marijuana joint (1.83% Δ9-THC) or placebo joint	inh	single dose during luteal phase	n.d.	Decreased 60-120 mins after dose	No effect	No effect	Decreased 60-120 mins and 150-180 after dose.
24	3 female rhesus monkeys	repeated measures	Δ9-THC (2.5 mg/kg) or vehicle	IM	single dose during mid-luteal phase (day 20-22)	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	Decreased 6-24 hours after dose; effect was prevented by HCG	n.d.
25	5 ovarectomized female rhesus monkeys	repeated measures performed at least 10 days apart	single dose of Δ9-THC (0.3125, 0.625, 1.25, 2.5, 5.0 mg/kg) or vehicle.	IM	Non-cycling animals	Decreased 6-24 hours after 5.0 mg/kg dose, 12 hours after 2.5 mg/kg dose, and 6 hours after 0.625 and 1.25 mg/kg doses.	Decreased 6-12 hours after 2.5 and 5.0 mg/kg doses, and 6 hours after 0.625 and 1.25 mg/kg doses. No effect with 0.3 mg/kg.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.
26	5 female rhesus monkeys	repeated measures, chronic study	Δ9-THC (1.25 mg/kg in 2 monkeys or 2.5 mg/kg in 3 monkeys) or vehicle	IM	3X per week beginning on cycle day 1 and lasting for 230 days or until 2 consecutive ovulatory cycles occurred	n.d.	Decreased for ~100 days after treatment began in 2.5 mg/kg treated group	Decreased for ~100 days after treatment began in 2.5 mg/kg treated group	Decreased for ~100 days after treatment began in 2.5 mg/kg treated group	No effect

Abbreviations: Δ⁹-THC, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol; E2, estradiol; FSH, follicle-stimulating hormone; hCG, human chorionic gonadotropin; IM, intramuscular (injection); inh, inhalation; LH, luteinizing hormone; mg/kg, milligrams (of drug) per kilogram (of body weight); n.d., not determined; P, progesterone; PRL, prolactin