A prospective study of the effects of female and male marijuana use on in vitro fertilization (IVF) and gamete intrafallopian transfer (GIFT) outcomes.
OBJECTIVE
This study was undertaken to examine whether marijuana use affects in vitro fertilization and gamete intrafallopian transfer (IVF/GIFT).


METHODS
Prospective study of 221 IVF/GIFT couples.


RESULTS
Amount of lifetime heavy marijuana use adversely affected IVF/GIFT. Women smoking more than 90 times in their lifetime had 27% fewer oocytes retrieved (P = .03) and 1 fewer embryo transferred (P < .05). Women smoking marijuana more than 10 times in their lifetime had infants 17% (P = .01) smaller at birth. If men smoked marijuana 11 to 90 times in their lifetime, there was a 15% decrease in infant birth weight (P = .03); if this increased to more than 90 times, there was a 23% decrease (P = .01). Timing also played a role. Women smoking marijuana 1 year before IVF/GIFT had 25% fewer oocytes retrieved (P = .03), whereas couples had 28% (P = .04) fewer oocytes fertilized. Women and men who smoked in the past 15 years, had 12% (P = .04) and 16% (P = .03) smaller infants, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
Both timing and amount of marijuana use negatively affected IVF/GIFT.
Klonoff-Cohen
Hillary S
HS
Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
Natarajan
Loki
L
Chen
Rosa Victoria
RV
D000328:Adult; D001724:Birth Weight; D004624:Embryo Transfer; D005260:Female; D005307:Fertilization in Vitro / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015181:Gamete Intrafallopian Transfer / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008385:Marijuana Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000187:drug effects