Modeling binge-like ethanol drinking by peri-adolescent and adult P rats

• Published in: Pharmacology, biochemistry and behavior Vol. 100; no. 1; pp. 90 - 97
• Main Authors: Bell, Richard L., Rodd, Zachary A., Smith, Rebecca J., Toalston, Jamie E., Franklin, Kelle M., McBride, William J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Inc 01.11.2011; Elsevier
• Subjects: Addictive behaviors; Adolescence; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Adulthood; Age Factors; Alcohol drinking; Alcohol Drinking - adverse effects; Alcohol Drinking - psychology; Alcohol-preferring rats; Alcoholism; Alcoholism and acute alcohol poisoning; Animal model; Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Disease Models, Animal; Ethanol - poisoning; Female; Intoxication; Male; Medical sciences; Models, Animal; Motor ataxia; Nervous system (semeiology, syndromes); Nervous system as a whole; Neurology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Rats; Selectively bred rats; Self Administration; Toxicology; Selectively bred rats; Self-administration; Adolescence; Animal model; Motor ataxia; Alcohol drinking; Alcohol-preferring rats; Adulthood; Intoxication; Rat; Self administration; Modeling; Alcoholic beverage; Adult; Ataxia; Neurological disorder; Human; Nervous system diseases; Ethanol; Alcoholism; Rodentia; Cerebral disorder; Binge drinking; Vertebrata; Mammalia; Central nervous system disease; Adolescent; Adult animal; Poisoning
• ISSN: 0091-3057; 1873-5177
• DOI: 10.1016/j.pbb.2011.07.017

Alcohol binge-drinking, especially among adolescents and young adults, is a serious public health concern. The present study examined ethanol binge-like drinking by peri-adolescent [postnatal days (PNDs 30–72)] and adult (PNDs 90–132) alcohol-preferring (P) rats with a drinking-in-the-dark-multiple-scheduled-access (DID-MSA) procedure used by our laboratory. Male and female P rats were provided concurrent access to 15% and 30% ethanol for three 1-h sessions across the dark cycle 5days/week. For the 1st week, adolescent and adult female P rats consumed 3.4 and 1.6g/kg of ethanol, respectively, during the 1st hour of access, whereas for male rats the values were 3.5 and 1.1g/kg of ethanol, respectively. Adult intakes increased to ~2.0g/kg/h and adolescent intakes decreased to ~2.5g/kg/h across the 6weeks of ethanol access. The daily ethanol intake of adult DID-MSA rats approximated or modestly exceeded that seen in continuous access (CA) rats or the selection criterion for P rats (≥5g/kg/day). However, in general, the daily ethanol intake of DID-MSA peri-adolescent rats significantly exceeded that of their CA counterparts. BELs were assessed at 15-min intervals across the 3rd hour of access during the 4th week. Ethanol intake was 1.7g/kg vs. 2.7g/kg and BELs were 57mg% vs. 100mg% at 15- and 60-min, respectively. Intoxication induced by DID-MSA in female P rats was assessed during the 1st vs. 4th week of ethanol access. Level of impairment did not differ between the 2weeks (106 vs. 97s latency to fall, 120s criterion) and was significant (vs. naïve controls) only during the 4th week. Overall, these findings support the use of the DID-MSA procedure in rats, and underscore the presence of age- and sex-dependent effects mediating ethanol binge-like drinking in P rats. ► Daily intake of adult ethanol binge-drinking rats approximated that of continuous access rats. ► Daily intake of peri-adolescent ethanol binge-drinking rats exceeded that of continuous access rats. ► Both peri-adolescent and adult ethanol binge-drinking rats displayed intoxication. ► Ethanol binge-drinking resulted in BELs exceeding 80 mg% in both sexes.