title: Rats display a robust bimodal preference profile for sucralose.
abstract: Female Sprague-Dawley rats display considerable variability in their preference for the artificial sweetener sucralose over water. While some rats can be classified as sucralose preferrers (SP), as they prefer sucralose across a broad range of concentrations, others can be classified as sucralose avoiders (SA), as they avoid sucralose at concentrations above 0.1 g/L. Here, we expand on a previous report of this phenomenon by demonstrating, in a series of 2-bottle 24-h preference tests involving water and an ascending series of sucralose concentrations, that this variability in sucralose preference is robust across sex, stage of the estrous cycle, and 2 rat strains (Long-Evans and Sprague-Dawley). In a second experiment involving a large sample of rats (n = 50), we established that the ratio of SP to SA is approximately 35-65%. This bimodal behavioral response to sucralose appears to be driven by taste because rats display a similar bimodal licking response to a range of sucralose solutions presented during brief-access tests. Finally, we have shown that sucralose avoidance is extremely robust as 23-h water-deprived SA continue to avoid sucralose in 1-h single-bottle intake tests. Based on their reduced licking responses to sucralose during brief-access (taste driven) tests, and the fact that their distaste for sucralose cannot be overcome by the motivation to rehydrate, we conclude that SA detect a negative taste quality of sucralose that SP are relatively insensitive to.
authors.affiliation: Program in Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, USA.
authors.forename: Gregory C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Loney
authors.forename: Ann-Marie
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Torregrossa
authors.forename: James C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Anthony
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sclafani
authors.forename: Lisa A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Eckel
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D005518:Food Preferences; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats / Q000502:physiology*; D020318:Rats, Long-Evans; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012737:Sex Factors; D013395:Sucrose / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000378:metabolism; D013549:Sweetening Agents / Q000378:metabolism*; D013649:Taste; D055697:Taste Perception
chemical_list: D013549:Sweetening Agents; D013395:Sucrose; C026285:trichlorosucrose