Exposure to sucrose-quinine solutions does not increase ethanol consumption.
The taste of ethanol can be aversive or preferred based on prior experience with ethanol consumption. A preference for ethanol's taste is thought to result from the association of ethanol's taste with its neuropharmacological activity. However, acclimation to ethanol's aversive taste may also play a role in increased ethanol consumption following prolonged exposure. The present study examined if acclimation to a bitter-sweet tastant, which has been suggested to share similar taste qualities with ethanol, would increase ethanol intake with only minimal prior experience of an association of ethanol intake with its neuropharmacological activity. Male Long-Evans rats were trained to drink 10% sucrose during 20-min sessions. The consumption of 0-20% ethanol was then determined before and after exposure to a sucrose-quinine solution. Before the sucrose-quinine taste acclimation procedure, the initial intake of sucrose-quinine was low and similar to 5% ethanol. After the acclimation procedure, increases in sucrose-quinine intake, but not ethanol intake, were observed. These data could indicate that any similarity in the taste qualities of sucrose-quinine and ethanol solutions are diminished following exposure to sucrose-quinine. Alternatively, the differential changes in sucrose-quinine and ethanol intake could be the result of being differentially regulated by a combination of taste and postingestive factors. Overall, these data indicate that exposure to sucrose-quinine, which resulted in increased intake of sucrose-quinine, was not sufficient to alter ethanol intake. Rather, exposure to taste and postingestive factors associated with ethanol may be necessary to increase ethanol intake.
Slawecki
C J
CJ
Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, The Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, USA. cslawecki@scripps.edu
Samson
H H
HH
D000428:Alcohol Drinking; D000818:Animals; D000431:Ethanol / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D011803:Quinine / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D051381:Rats; D020318:Rats, Long-Evans; D012996:Solutions; D013395:Sucrose / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D013649:Taste
D012996:Solutions; D000431:Ethanol; D013395:Sucrose; D011803:Quinine