Ethanol Consumption in Rats Selectively Bred for Differential Saccharin Intake

• Published in: Alcohol (Fayetteville, N.Y.) Vol. 16; no. 4; pp. 275 - 278
• Main Authors: Dess, Nancy K., Badia-Elder, Nancy E., Thiele, Todd E., Kiefer, Stephen W., Blizard, David A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY Elsevier Inc 01.11.1998; Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Alcoholism and acute alcohol poisoning; Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Body Weight; Breeding; Drinking; Ethanol - administration & dosage; Ethanol consumption; Female; Male; Medical sciences; Phenotype; Rats; Reciprocal selection; Saccharin - administration & dosage; Selective breeding; Sex Characteristics; Solutions; Toxicology; Reciprocal selection; Selective breeding; Ethanol consumption; Consumption; Ethanol; Rat; Rodentia; Oral administration; Selection effect; Vertebrata; Phenotype; Saccharin; Mammalia; Type specificity; Animal; Interindividual comparison; Genetics; High dose
• ISSN: 0741-8329; 1873-6823
• DOI: 10.1016/S0741-8329(98)00010-X

Rat lines selectively bred for high ethanol consumption consume more saccharin solution than do their low-ethanol-consuming counterparts. The present study utilized the technique of reciprocal selection to examine the reliability of the saccharin/ethanol relationship; specifically, consumption of 1–10% ethanol solution was measured in rats selectively bred for high vs. low saccharin consumption (Occidental HiS and LoS lines). HiS rats consumed more ethanol than did LoS rats. These results support the idea that individual differences in ethanol and saccharin consumption share some common mechanism(s).