Kainic acid lesioning of alkaloid-sensitive brain sites and ethanol ingestion in the rat.
A control alcohol (ethanol) preference test was first given to adult male Sprague-Dawley rats which were provided water together with alcohol increased in concentrations from 3 to 30% over 8 days. Then each rat was anesthetized and a two-stage, bilateral lesion was made stereotaxically by microinjection of kainic acid in a dose of 0.5 micrograms into the hippocampus, cingulate gyrus or periaqueductal gray. Specifically selected sites were based on earlier experiments in which the application of a tetrahydroisoquinoline alkaloid was found to induce an increase in alcohol drinking. Two weeks later, the 8-day test of self-selection for alcohol was repeated. Although neurological signs of kainic acid lesions were apparent, no significant differences in alcohol drinking in terms of proportion or g/kg intake occurred after either the first or second stage of the lesion. These results show that local destruction of an alkaloid-sensitive site does not appear to be responsible for induction of aberrant drinking of alcohol.
D000428:Alcohol Drinking; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects*; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000187:drug effects; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000187:drug effects; D007608:Kainic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D010487:Periaqueductal Gray / Q000187:drug effects; D011759:Pyrrolidines / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains
D011759:Pyrrolidines; D007608:Kainic Acid