Sex Difference On Arterial Stiffness Elevation In Healthy Young Habitual Cannabis Users

PURPOSE: Cannabis has been used not only for medical purposes but also for recreationally by many young adults in the US. Recent studies have shown that habitual cannabis use (HCU) negatively impacts on arterial stiffness. Previous research suggested female may be more sensitively response to HCU and tend to experience lower blood pressure compared to males. However, it remines unclear whether HCU influences on arterial stiffness differently in male and female. The purpose of this study is to examine sex differences in arterial stiffness augmentation in health young adults with HCU. METHODS: Health young adults who used cannabis at least once a week for more than a year or fewer than 5 times in their lifetime were recruited from the local community (HCU: 26 ± 4 yrs, m/f = 6/2, n = 8; CON 21 ± 2 yrs, m/f = 1/6, n = 7; MAP: 84.6 ± 8 vs. 78.1.6 ± 8, HCU vs. CON; BMI: 24.4 ± 2.7 vs. 22.1 ± 2.1 kg/m2, HCU vs. CON). Arterial stiffness was measured by carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cf-PWV) and wave reflections in both CON and HCU groups. A student’s t-test was conducted to assess statistical significance. RESULTS: Current preliminary data indicates that cf-PWV elevated in HCU group (PWV: 5.9 ± 0.6 vs. 4.9 ± 0.4 m/2, HCU vs. CON, p = <0.5). However, there was no significant difference in wave reflection between the two groups (wave reflection: 51.0 ± 4.3 vs. 51.1 ± 5.1 %, HCU vs. CON, p = 0.89). Additionally, there was no significant difference in PWV between male and female in HCU group (PWV: 5.8 ± 0.6 vs. 5.9 ± 0.9, n = 6 vs. 2, male vs. female, P = 0.77). CONCLUSION: PWV was elevated in HCU compared to the control group. However, no sex differences were observed in arterial stiffness augmentation associate with HCU. This may be due to our small sample size in female HCU group. Further studies with more participants (more female participants in HCU group) are needed to confirm these preliminary findings. Supported by: This research was supported by the Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity Support Grant (RSCA), California State University Bakersfield