Table 1.
Area density of dendritic profiles with and without GluN1 labeling in the PL-PFC of adult mice chronically exposed to THC as adolescents
| Profiles | Vehicle (n) | THC (n) | % Change in profiles |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dendritic spines | |||
| GluN1 positive | 202 | 296 | ↑ 46.5% |
| GluN1 negative | 1768 | 2283 | ↑ 29.1% |
| Column total | 1970 | 2579 | ↑ 30.9%* |
| % GluN1 positive | 11% | 11% | 0% |
| Dendritic shafts | |||
| GluN1 positive | 1581 | 1427 | ↓ 9.7% |
| GluN1 negative | 948 | 1053 | ↑ 11.1% |
| Column total | 2529 | 2480 | ↓ 1.9% |
| % GluN1 positive | 62.80% | 57.50% | ↓ 5% ** |
n = number of dendritic spines and shafts observed in 21,170 µm2 of PL-PFC tissue collected equally from ~70 microscopic images in two vibratome sections from adult mice receiving ∆9-THC (n = 5) or vehicle (n = 5) during adolescence. The receipt of ∆9-THC during adolescence resulted in a significant (*) increase in the density of dendritic spines as compared with mice receiving vehicle injections (χ2 (1) = 81.51, p < 0.0001) without changing the proportion of GluN1 immunolabeling between the two treatment groups (χ2 (1) = 1.72, p > 0.05). In contrast, there was no difference in the density of dendritic shafts between ∆9-THC-injected and vehicle-injected controls (χ2 (1) = 0.43, p > 0.05); however, there was a significant (**) decrease in the number of GluN1-positive dendritic shafts (χ2 (1) = 12.92, p, 0.0003)