Effects of Marijuana on Weight Changes, Physical Observation and Histology on the Kidney of Wistar Rats

Background and Objective: The rate of use of cannabis is rapidly increasing in society. Some of its usefulness has been documented, while its effect on weight changes is still understudied. This study was carried out to evaluate the weight changes, physical changes, and histological effects of cannabis on the kidney of Wistar rats. Materials and Methods: They were divided into five groups, A, B, C, D, and E comprising five rats each. The study involved 25 growing Wistar rats with weight ranges between 250-275g and 50 growing Wistar rats for LD50, with weight ranges between 250-275g. Groups A served as the control and received only growers’ mash and distilled water, while groups B, C, D, and E received 65mg/kg body weight, 130mg/kg body weight, 162mg/kg body weight, and 194mg/kg body weight of cannabis respectively. Animal weights were measured before and after the administration of cannabis. The control rats and test animals were sacrificed after 28 days, and the kidney was harvested for histological processing. The results obtained were compared with the control using the statistical package for social science (SPSS) version 20 with a level of significance (P<0.05). Results: The results on weight recorded were; group B (310.0±14.14), groups C (273.0±2.32), D (295.0±7.07), and E (277.0±3.53) recorded significant (P<0.05) lower weight when compared with the control group The control kidney tissue section, however, presented normal cytoarchitectural features of the kidney while the test groups showed histological alterations which were dosage induce. Photomicrograph of group B kidney tissue section shows kidney cytoarchitecture with vacuolations and mild glomerular distortion, photomicrograph of group C kidney tissue section shows kidney cytoarchitecture with vacuolations, photomicrograph of group D kidney tissue section shows shrinking glomeruli which were adjacent to a normal glomerulus and photomicrograph of group E kidney tissue section shows glomerulus surrounded by cellular infiltrates. Conclusion: The study’s findings revealed that cannabis has a deleterious effect on the cytoarchitecture of the kidney in a dose-dependent way. Also, more studies are needed to identify the time in relation to dosage consumption effect, knowing which could be harmful to living and the LD50 that would produce 100% mortality.