Negative affect and voluntary alcohol consumption in Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) and Sprague-Dawley rats

Based on the assumption that the Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rat strain represents an animal model for depressive behavior, the purported relationship between depression and alcohol consumption was investigated in three experiments. WKY rats consumed more alcohol than Sprague-Dawley (S-D) rats when offered a choice between a 7% alcohol solution and tap water. Subsequently, the severity of stress-induced stomach ulcers was significantly less in WKY rats that had access to alcohol. In Experiment 2, WKY and S-D rats were assigned to either an alcohol access treatment or to a water-only treatment for 27 days and subsequently observed in the open-field test (OFT) and the elevated plus-maze (EPM). Access to alcohol reduced response latency in the OFT, and increased the percent time in the open arm and the total number of arm entries in the EPM for WKY rats. In Experiment 3, the antidepressant, imipramine, reduced alcohol consumption in both strains and significantly increased percent time in the open arms of the EPM for WKY rats. These studies support the assumption that depression and alcohol consumption may be related.