title: The role of setting in the oral self-administration of alcohol in the rat.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  We have previously found that rats that were kept at all times in the self-administration (SA) chambers (resident group) self-administered more heroin than rats that were transferred to the SA chambers immediately before testing (Non-Resident group). Alcohol resembles heroin in its ability to produce, at recreational doses, mood elevation, euphoria, drowsiness, and sedation. Furthermore, alcohol presents some similarities with the mechanisms of action of heroin at the levels of the mesostriatal circuitry. Therefore, we predicted that, as for heroin, alcohol intake would be greater in the Resident than in the Non-Resident group.
  
  
  METHODS
  In Experiment 1, oral self-administration of ethanol and wine solutions (2.5%, 5%, and 10%, v/v) was assessed in Resident and Non-Resident rats using both one-bottle (three sessions) and two-bottle (seven sessions) tests. In addition, we also assessed the intake of water (Experiment 2) and of 0.04% saccharin-0.003% quinine solution (Experiment 3).
  
  
  RESULTS
  During the one-bottle sessions, alcohol intake of Resident rats was up to two times that of Non-Resident rats. During the two-bottle sessions, Resident rats drank two times more 5% alcohol than water, whereas Non-Resident rats took equal amount of the two fluids. The average daily intake of pure ethanol for Resident rats given access to 5% solutions was 0.71 ± 0.076 vs. 0.46 ± 0.078 g/kg for Non-Resident rats. No group differences in the intake of water and of saccharin-quinine solution were found.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present report demonstrates at a preclinical level the importance of setting for alcohol self-administration.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Pharmacology Vittorio Erspamer, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Arianna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Testa
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Nencini
authors.forename: Aldo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Badiani
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000523:psychology*; D000818:Animals; D003216:Conditioning, Operant / Q000187:drug effects; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004777:Environment; D000431:Ethanol / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012054:Reinforcement, Psychology; D012646:Self Administration
chemical_list: D000431:Ethanol