Understanding the effect of cannabis use on metabolic and appetite hormones
Year: 2025
Type: preprint
Abstract: Adults report symptoms of appetite stimulation and increased caloric intake during acute cannabis intoxication [1, 2]. Although acute effects suggest that adults who use cannabis should weigh more than others, research has more consistently found that the long-term effects of cannabis use are a lower body mass index (BMI). A majority of studies on this topic have found a negative association between cannabis use and BMI when comparing those who use cannabis to those who do not [3-5] and when examining dose-dependent associations [6-9]. Cannabis use is also associated with other health outcomes like lower rates and risk factors for diabetes [5, 10, 11], lower likelihood of cardiometabolic diagnoses [8, 12], and smaller waist circumference [5]. There is clearly a link between cannabis use with appetite, caloric intake, BMI, and cardiometabolic health. A recent randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study compared different forms of cannabis administration on various appetite and metabolic hormones among a sample of adults who use cannabis. The study examined fasting hormone levels before and following cannabis administration (vape, smoke, oral ingestion, and placebo). Blood insulin following intake of a brownie with cannabis was blunted during cannabis administration compared to the placebo condition (brownie without cannabis). Furthermore, during all cannabis administrations (vape, smoke, and oral ingestion) GLP-1 concentrations were lower compared to the placebo condition. Ghrelin concentrations during the oral cannabis administration were significantly higher compared to smoked and vaporized cannabis administration [13]. One other study, which was a pilot study, examined the effect of cannabis on appetite and metabolic hormones in adult men who are HIV+ with neuropathic pain. Participants had to have smoked medicinal cannabis as a treatment for neuropathic pain. The study design was a crossover, double-blind study, when participants used cannabis blood concentrations of ghrelin and leptin increased, peptide YY (PYY) concentrations decreased, and there was no difference on the effect of insulin compared to when participants were not administered cannabis [14]. Additionally, cannabis use, as well as form of cannabis administration, impacts appetitive and metabolic hormones. However, only two studies (to our knowledge) have examined how cannabis use impacts hormones involved in the endocrine pathways. As such, more research is necessary to gain a better understanding of why those who use cannabis have a lower BMI. The current study will examine additional appetitive and metabolic hormones, that have never been tested with cannabis use, including PYY and glucose. Furthermore, we will compare those who use cannabis compared to those who do not on a meal challenge when. We are not aware of any studies that have compared these hormones among adults who actively use cannabis to those who do not use cannabis. This project will recruit 50 adults between the ages of 18 and 45 years old. The purpose of this study is to compare adults who use cannabis to adults who do not currently use cannabis on appetite and metabolic hormones. Participants will complete a meal challenge to examine metabolic and appetite hormones. Participants will have their blood drawn before consuming a nutritional shake and then every 30 minutes across three hours for an additional 6 times post-meal. We will also collect data on participant’s hunger, appetite, satiety, and thirst at each blood draw. Participants will complete questionnaires on substance use history, mental health, physical health, and diet. Specific Aim 1: To examine changes in appetitive and metabolic hormones including ghrelin, GLP-1, glucose, insulin, PYY, and leptin (only fasted) during a meal challenge among adults who are actively using cannabis compared to adults who do not currently use cannabis. Hypothesis 1a: We hypothesize that participants who use cannabis will have lower blood concentration levels of insulin, peptide YY (PYY), and GLP-1 compared to the participants who do not use cannabis. Hypothesis 1b: We hypothesize that participants who use cannabis will have higher blood concentration levels of glucose, ghrelin, and leptin compared to those who do not use cannabis. This is a single site pilot study to determine feasibility and to gather data for an R01 grant. As such, we are only recruiting 76 participants for this pilot study. There are two study groups: 1) adults who use cannabis, and 2) adults who do not use cannabis (control group). The control group will allow for comparison between those who use cannabis and those who do not to examine whether there are differences in appetite-related hormones that might be related to cannabis use. Outcomes will be assessed with the same design: 2 groups (cannabis use group versus control) over 7 times (baseline [or pre-meal/fasted state] and ~30 minutes, ~60 minutes, ~90 minutes, ~120 minutes, ~150 minutes, and ~180 minutes post-meal).
Institution: University of Colorado Boulder
Subfield: Pharmacology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7166733774
Cites:
Cited by:
Related to: