The study shows for the first time that anandamide directly regulates the ability of sperm to swim up the birth canal, as well as their ability to dissolve the coating surrounding the human egg. We set up experiments where we added a minimal number of sperm to fertilize sea urchin eggs. And what we saw was that with THC, it stimulated sperm swimming. It didn't inhibit it.
Sea urchins are a good model for human fertility, say the researchers.
For those who smoke pot, Schuel thinks there may be serious implications. This possibility may explain observations made over the past 30 to 40 years that marijuana smoke drastically reduces sperm production in males. So what we have is evidence for an internal signaling system that regulates sperm functions for fertilization. A little AM-356 made the sperm swim faster, but a tenfold higher concentration suppressed it. Polysperm fertilization is when more than one sperm fertilizes the egg.