Prenatal ethanol exposure potentiates isolation-induced ethanol consumption in young adult rats

• Published in: Alcohol (Fayetteville, N.Y.) Vol. 75; pp. 39 - 46
• Main Authors: Fernández, Macarena Soledad, Carrizo, Jorge, Plaza, Wladimir, Haeger, Paola, Pautassi, Ricardo Marcos
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.03.2019; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Adolescence; Adolescents; Age Factors; Alcohol Drinking - adverse effects; Alcohol Drinking - psychology; Alcohol use; Alcoholic beverages; Alcohols; Animal behavior; Animals; Cages; Critical period; Drinking behavior; Ethanol; Ethanol - administration & dosage; Ethanol - toxicity; Exposure; Female; Fetal programming; Gestation; Housing; Intake; Male; Offspring; Pregnancy; Prenatal experience; Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects - chemically induced; Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects - psychology; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Rodents; Social interactions; Social Isolation - psychology; Stress; Stress response; Teenagers; Young adults; Adolescence; Intake; Fetal programming; Stress
• ISSN: 0741-8329; 1873-6823
• DOI: 10.1016/j.alcohol.2018.05.006

Prenatal and/or early postnatal ethanol exposure (PEE) is associated with significant behavioral and physiological deficits in offspring, including alterations in stress response systems and a greater likelihood of alcohol use disorders. Stress-induced ethanol drinking after PEE, however, has been largely unexplored. The present study analyzed ethanol intake in male Sprague-Dawley rats after protracted prenatal and early postnatal ethanol exposure and tested whether social isolation during the sensitive period of adolescence modulates the effects of PEE on ethanol drinking. The dams were given 10% ethanol (or its vehicle) as the sole drinking fluid from gestational day 0 (GD0) to postnatal day 7 (PD7). On PD21, male offspring were housed individually (isolated housing group) or in pairs in standard cages (standard housing group). From PD56 to PD84, these male rats were tested for ethanol intake in 24-h, intermittent two-bottle choice sessions that were conducted across 4 weeks. Maternal ethanol consumption during gestation and during the first week of life of the offspring averaged 6.10–8.20 g/kg/22 h. Isolation housing during adolescence increased free-choice ethanol drinking in young adulthood. The main novel finding was that this facilitative effect of isolation on absolute and percent ethanol intake was significantly greater in PEE rats than in control counterparts not exposed to the prenatal and early postnatal ethanol exposure (effect sizes [η2p]: 0.24–0.32). The present results suggest that PEE renders the individual sensitive to the facilitative effect of stress exposure on ethanol intake. •We exposed rats to prenatal and/or early postnatal ethanol exposure (PEE).•We then exposed the rats to isolation housing during adolescence.•We tested the rats for ethanol intake in intermittent two-bottle choice sessions.•Isolation housing during adolescence increased ethanol drinking in adulthood.•This effect of isolation was significantly greater in PEE rats than in controls.