Article

Dependence induced increases in intragastric alcohol consumption in mice.

Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, 97201-3098, USA.
Addiction Biology (impact factor: 4.83). 09/2011; 17(1):13-32. DOI:10.1111/j.1369-1600.2011.00363.x pp.13-32
Source: PubMed

ABSTRACT Three experiments used the intragastric alcohol consumption (IGAC) procedure to examine the effects of variations in passive ethanol exposure on withdrawal and voluntary ethanol intake in two inbred mouse strains, C57BL/6J (B6) and DBA/2J (D2). Experimental treatments were selected to induce quantitative differences in ethanol dependence and withdrawal severity by: (1) varying the periodicity of passive ethanol exposure (three, six or nine infusions/day); (2) varying the dose per infusion (low, medium or high); and (3) varying the duration of passive exposure (3, 5 or 10 days). All experiments included control groups passively exposed to water. B6 mice generally self-infused more ethanol than D2 mice, but passive ethanol exposure increased IGAC in both strains, with D2 mice showing larger relative increases during the first few days of ethanol access. Bout data supported the characterization of B6 mice as sippers and D2 mice as gulpers. Three larger infusions per day produced a stronger effect on IGAC than six or nine smaller infusions, especially in D2 mice. Increased IGAC was strongly predicted by cumulative ethanol dose and intoxication during passive exposure in both strains. Withdrawal during the passive exposure phase was also a strong predictor of increased IGAC in D2 mice. However, B6 mice showed little withdrawal, precluding analysis of its potential role. Overall, these data support the hypothesis that dependence-induced increases in IGAC are jointly determined by two processes that might vary across genotypes: (1) tolerance to aversive postabsorptive ethanol effects and (2) negative reinforcement (i.e. alleviation of withdrawal by self-administered ethanol).

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Keywords

aversive postabsorptive ethanol effects
 
control groups passively
 
cumulative ethanol dose
 
dependence-induced increases
 
ethanol dependence
 
Experimental treatments
 
Increased IGAC
 
induce quantitative differences
 
infusions/day
 
intragastric alcohol consumption
 
larger infusions
 
larger relative increases
 
passive ethanol exposure
 
passive exposure phase
 
potential role
 
self-administered ethanol
 
smaller infusions
 
stronger effect
 
voluntary ethanol intake
 
withdrawal severity