title: Increased sensitivity to ethanol in viral free rats compared to non-viral free rats of the same strain and supplier: a technical note.
abstract: Adult viral free Sprague-Dawley rats were compared with non-viral free rats of the same strain and supplier for their sleep-time and hypothermic response to an acute injection of ethanol (3.5 g/kg, IP). Viral free animals were found to be significantly more sensitive to the sleep-time and hypothermic properties of ethanol than the non-viral free animals. This increased sensitivity was accompanied by higher blood alcohol concentrations in viral free animals for up to four hours after ethanol injection. These results indicate that animals born and raised in a viral free environment differ markedly in their sensitivity to ethanol compared to non-viral free animals derived from the same genetic stock. Such differences may be due to decreased metabolic clearance of ethanol in viral free animals. These findings suggest that the use of viral free animals in developmental, behavioral, pharmacological or toxicological studies of the effects of ethanol may be an important consideration.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, UCLA, Torrance 90509.
authors.forename: R F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: McGivern
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Anderson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000431:Ethanol / Q000097:blood / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005260:Female; D005856:Germ-Free Life / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D007035:Hypothermia / Q000139:chemically induced; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D012890:Sleep / Q000187:drug effects; D013997:Time Factors; D014780:Viruses
chemical_list: D000431:Ethanol