Initial subjective reward to alcohol in Sprague-Dawley rats

• Published in: Alcohol (Fayetteville, N.Y.) Vol. 58; pp. 19 - 22
• Main Authors: Nentwig, Todd B, Myers, Kevin P, Grisel, Judith E
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.02.2017; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Alcohol; Alcohol use disorder; Alcoholism; Animal behavior; Animals; Cocaine; Conditioned place preference; Conditioning (Psychology) - drug effects; Conditioning (Psychology) - physiology; Drug dosages; Ethanol; Ethanol - administration & dosage; Female; Hypotheses; Injections, Intraperitoneal; Male; Neurosciences; Novelty; Preferences; Psychiatry; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Researchers; Reward; Rodents; Sex differences; Studies; Susceptibility; Sex differences; Alcohol use disorder; Conditioned place preference; Ethanol; Susceptibility; Novelty
• ISSN: 0741-8329; 1873-6823
• DOI: 10.1016/j.alcohol.2016.11.005

Abstract Initial subjective response to the rewarding properties of alcohol predicts voluntary consumption and the risk for alcohol use disorders. We assessed the initial subjective reward to alcohol in rats using a single exposure conditioned place preference (SE-CPP) paradigm. Sprague-Dawley rats demonstrate preference for a context paired with a single systemic injection of ethanol (1.0 g/kg, delivered intraperitoneally). However, expression of SE-CPP in males depended on pairing ethanol with the first exposure to the conditioning apparatus and procedures, while conditioning day did not appreciably affect SE-CPP in females, consistent with the view that females experience heightened addiction vulnerability. This model offers researchers a high throughput assay for investigating factors that influence alcohol reward and may point the way toward more effective prevention and treatment efforts.