Conditioned taste aversion and the Myers' high-ethanol-preferring rat.
OBJECTIVE
Male and female Myers' high-ethanol-preferring (mHEP) rats were compared to outbred controls in a taste aversion paradigm.


METHODS
Alcohol-naïve rats were adapted to a 2-h access to water. Each rat was given either 0.05% saccharin (w/v) or 7% ethanol (v/v) as a novel solution for 1 h, after which either 0.5 M LiCl, as the aversive stimulus, or NaCl, as the control, was injected intraperitoneally. Each rat was tested 48 h later by presentation of the same solution.


RESULTS
After LiCl injections, saccharin consumption declined 21.6% in female Sprague-Dawley, 9.5% in female mHEP, 33.3% in male Wistar, and 38.3% in male mHEP rats. Ethanol consumption in these groups declined by 88.5, 30, 45 and 52%, respectively. These mHEP rats were then screened for 24-h alcohol consumption on a 10-day 3-30% ethanol vs water 'step-up' procedure. During the step-up procedure, only the male mHEP rats trained with ethanol for taste aversion drank less ethanol at the 3-5% concentrations than did rats trained with saccharin. The female mHEP rats did not learn an aversion to either saccharin or ethanol.


CONCLUSIONS
The female mHEP rat consumes copious amounts of ethanol, but the basis for this consumption may be different from that of the male mHEP rat.
Lucas
Lou Anne C
LA
Center for Alcohol and Drug Abuse Studies & Department of Pharmacology, Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27858, USA.
McMillen
Brian A
BA
D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000235:genetics; D000818:Animals; D001362:Avoidance Learning / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D002755:Choice Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D003216:Conditioning, Operant / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D000431:Ethanol / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D013045:Species Specificity; D013649:Taste / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology
D000431:Ethanol