title: Progress toward a voluntary oral consumption model of alcoholism.
abstract: With the goal of obtaining a suitable animal model for voluntary oral consumption of ethanol, the investigators selectively bred lines of alcohol-preferring and alcohol-nonpreferring rats, with preference considered as a function of the concentration of ethanol ingested. Studies with these animals showed that drinking is voluntary and not contingent on caloric restriction; that they will work to obtain ethanol even when food and water are freely available, and in so doing, show psychological or behavioral tolerance; that the amount of ethanol voluntarily consumed approaches their apparent maximum capacity for ethanol elimination. This amount of ethanol was capable of altering brain neurotransmitter content, thus exerting a CNS pharmocologic effect. In addition, the rats will bar-press for intravenous administration of ethanol, and with prolonged, free-choice consumption, ethanol intake increases to as much as 12 g per kg body weight per day without producing behavioral deficits, suggesting the development of tolerance.
mesh_terms: D000079:Acetaldehyde / Q000097:blood; D000428:Alcohol Drinking; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000235:genetics; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D002755:Choice Behavior / Q000187:drug effects; D003216:Conditioning, Operant / Q000187:drug effects; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004361:Drug Tolerance; D000431:Ethanol / Q000097:blood / Q000494:pharmacology; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D018377:Neurotransmitter Agents / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D012054:Reinforcement, Psychology; D012641:Selection, Genetic; D013375:Substance Withdrawal Syndrome / Q000209:etiology
chemical_list: D018377:Neurotransmitter Agents; D000431:Ethanol; D000079:Acetaldehyde