title: A Method for Evaluating the Reinforcing Properties of Ethanol in Rats without Water Deprivation, Saccharin Fading or Extended Access Training.
abstract: Operant oral self-administration methods are commonly used to study the reinforcing properties of ethanol in animals. However, the standard methods require saccharin/sucrose fading, water deprivation and/or extended training to initiate operant responding in rats. This paper describes a novel and efficient method to quickly initiate operant responding for ethanol that is convenient for experimenters and does not require water deprivation or saccharin/sucrose fading, thus eliminating the potential confound of using sweeteners in ethanol operant self-administration studies. With this method, Wistar rats typically acquire and maintain self-administration of a 20% ethanol solution in less than two weeks of training. Furthermore, blood ethanol concentrations and rewards are positively correlated for a 30 min self-administration session. Moreover, naltrexone, an FDA-approved medication for alcohol dependence that has been shown to suppress ethanol self-administration in rodents, dose-dependently decreases alcohol intake and motivation to consume alcohol for rats self-administering 20% ethanol, thus validating the use of this new method to study the reinforcing properties of alcohol in rats.
authors.affiliation: Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience, IKE, Linköping University; eric.augier@liu.se.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Augier
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Clinical and Translational Studies, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institutes of Health.
authors.forename: Russell S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Dulman
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Clinical and Translational Studies, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institutes of Health.
authors.forename: Erick
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Singley
authors.affiliation: Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience, IKE, Linköping University.
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Heilig
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003216:Conditioning, Operant; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D000431:Ethanol / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012054:Reinforcement, Psychology; D012201:Reward; D012439:Saccharin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D012646:Self Administration; D013395:Sucrose / Q000008:administration & dosage; D014868:Water Deprivation
chemical_list: D000431:Ethanol; D013395:Sucrose; D012439:Saccharin