Sex and Strain Differences in Ethanol Drinking: Effects of Gonadectomy

• Published in: Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research Vol. 25; no. 4; pp. 594 - 599
• Main Authors: Cailhol, Stéphanie, Mormède, Pierre
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.04.2001; Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; Wiley
• Subjects: Alcohol Drinking - metabolism; Alcohol Drinking - psychology; Alcoholism and acute alcohol poisoning; Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Ethanol Intake; Female; Gender Differences; Gonadal Steroid Hormones - metabolism; Gonadectomy; Life Sciences; Male; Medical sciences; Orchiectomy - psychology; Ovariectomy - psychology; Rat; Rats; Rats, Inbred SHR; Rats, Inbred WKY; Self Administration - psychology; Sex Factors; Species Specificity; Strain Differences; Toxicology; Consumption; Ethanol; Rat; Toxicity; Alcoholism; Rodentia; Detoxification; Sex; Oral administration; Self administration; Strain specificity; Alcoholic beverage; Vertebrata; Mammalia; Castration; Animal; Predisposition; Sex steroid hormone; Mechanism of action; RAT
• ISSN: 0145-6008; 1530-0277
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1530-0277.2001.tb02255.x

Background: Alcohol drinking behavior in rats is known to be sexually dimorphic and strain‐dependent. Methods: To test whether the gonadal steroid milieu exerts activational effects on ethanol intake and can modulate individual sensitivity toward alcohol use and misuse, we examined the effects of gonadectomy on oral self‐administration (OSA) of ethanol in male and female rats from different strains. After castration, animals were given continuous free choice between water and ethanol solutions. The ethanol concentration was progressively increased from 2% to 10% and maintained at 6% (the preferred concentration) for 24 days. Ethanol solutions were then withdrawn for 9 days. During the second phase of free‐choice drinking, the ethanol concentration was gradually increased every 4 days by the following amounts, in order as listed: 6%, 12%, and 24%. Results: Our results confirm both gender and strain differences in ethanol drinking: females exhibited higher ethanol intake than males, and the WKHA strain drank more than the WKY and SHR strains. However, except for a small decrease in ethanol drinking during the acquisition of ethanol OSA in males after castration, no clear‐cut difference was found between gonadectomized and sham‐operated animals during the maintenance of ethanol OSA behavior. Conclusions: These data suggest that gender and strain differences observed are insensitive to gonadal steroids during adulthood, and that different sensitivities to the effect of gonadal steroids do not explain the sex × strain interaction observed in ethanol drinking.