Transdermal Tetrahydrocannabidiol Nanoemulsion Rescues Behavioral Deficits and Hippocampal Neurotoxicity in a Valproic Acid-Induced Autism Model

Raw behavioural and histomorphometric data from a study of a transdermal H4CBD (tetrahydrocannabidiol) nanoemulsion in a valproic acid-induced rat model of autism spectrum disorder, together with the analysis script that reproduces every statistic reported in the associated article. Male Wistar offspring (n = 48) of dams treated with valproic acid (500 mg/kg, i.p., gestational day 13) were assigned to six groups: a non-induced control, an untreated VPA control, and four VPA groups receiving a transdermal H4CBD gel for 30 days. The group labels 0.1%, 1%, 2% and 4% denote the proportion of H4CBD stock solution in corn oil (0.2005 g H4CBD/mL) incorporated into the vehicle, corresponding to 0.020%, 0.201%, 0.401% and 0.802% (w/w) H4CBD, or 0.04, 0.4, 0.8 and 1.6 mg per application. Anxiety-like and social behaviour were assessed before (day 60) and after (day 90) treatment using the elevated plus maze and social interaction tests. Hippocampal neuronal viability was assessed by histomorphometry in a subset of six animals per group. Contents: behavioural outcomes per animal (48 rows); hippocampal neuronal counts and viability per animal (36 rows); raw neuronal counts per microscopic field (725 rows); and analysis.py, which reproduces the descriptive statistics, one-way ANOVA with Tukey HSD, Kruskal-Wallis test, Jonckheere-Terpstra trend test, Spearman correlation and damage-recovery percentages reported in the article. Neuronal counts are pooled across the CA1-CA3 subfields and the dentate gyrus: the field index in the per-field file is a sequential counter and carries no subfield label, so the data do not support region-resolved analysis. See README.md for the full data dictionary, the ethics approval and reproduction instructions. All procedures were approved by the Ethics Committee on Animal Use of the Federal Rural University of Pernambuco (CEUA-UFRPE), protocol No. 3541251023.