The High-Ethanol Preferring rat as a model to study the shift between alcohol abuse and dependence.
The High-Ethanol Preferring line of rats (HEP), recently selected by R.D. Myers, is characterised by a high voluntary consumption of alcohol (3-4 g/kg/day for males and 6-8 g/kg/day for females, when a 10% ethanol solution is available as a choice vs. water) and a high sensitivity to taste reinforcement (saccharin, quinine). Our previous data obtained with HEP rats showed no evidence of development of dependence after long-term sustained alcohol intake. In this study, we subjected these rats to several long-term administration protocols suggested to favour the development of alcohol dependence, including multiple alcohol concentrations or sweetened alcohol solutions (ethanol 10% or 20%+saccharin), and deprivation periods. The results showed no increase in alcohol consumption, no shift of preference for alcohol solutions when offered as a free choice vs. a preferred saccharin solution, and a very limited alcohol-deprivation effect when alcohol is made available after a period of deprivation, the three criteria used to demonstrate the development of dependence. Regardless of the method used, HEP rats failed to show dependence after long-term, heavy ethanol consumption. Resistance to ethanol dependence may in fact be genetically influenced and the HEP rat appears as a valuable model to search for factors involved in the transition from alcohol abuse to dependence.
Terenina-Rigaldie
Elena
E
Laboratoire de Neurogénétique et Stress, UMR 1243 INRA-Université Victor Segalen, 33076 Bordeaux, France.
Jones
Byron C
BC
Mormède
Pierre
P
D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000235:genetics* / Q000523:psychology*; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000235:genetics* / Q000523:psychology*; D000818:Animals; D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D000431:Ethanol / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D012439:Saccharin / Q000494:pharmacology; D012996:Solutions; D013375:Substance Withdrawal Syndrome / Q000523:psychology; D013549:Sweetening Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D013649:Taste / Q000187:drug effects
D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants; D012996:Solutions; D013549:Sweetening Agents; D000431:Ethanol; D012439:Saccharin