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Intermittent availability of ethanol does not always lead to elevated drinking in mice
John C Crabbe1, John H Harkness, Stephanie E Spence
1Portland Alcohol Research Center, Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Science University, VA Medical Center (R&D 12), 3710 SW US Veterans Hospital Road, Portland, OR 97239, USA. crabbe@ohsu.edu
Alcohol and Alcoholism (Oxford, Oxfordshire)
|June 22, 2012
Summary
Four-hour intermittent access to alcohol did not increase drinking in mice. Twenty-four-hour access showed modest increases in some mice, but not all genotypes responded to intermittent access patterns.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Behavioral Science
- Pharmacology
Background:
- Intermittent access (IA) to alcohol solutions can increase ethanol intake in rats compared to continuous access.
- Previous studies suggest C57BL/6J mice may increase drinking with IA, but access durations varied.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if short-duration (4-hour) intermittent access to alcohol increases ethanol consumption in mice.
- To evaluate the impact of 24-hour IA on alcohol intake in C57BL/6J and High Drinking in the Dark (HDID) mice.
- To determine if specific mouse genotypes respond differently to intermittent alcohol access.
Main Methods:
- Tested C57BL/6J mice and selectively bred High Drinking in the Dark (HDID) mice.
- Utilized 4-hour and 24-hour intermittent access periods for 20% ethanol solutions.
- Compared intake across different access durations, genotypes, and sexes, modeling previous studies.
Main Results:
- Neither 4-hour nor 24-hour IA significantly increased daily ethanol intake in HDID mice or their controls.
- A small increase in drinking was observed in C57BL/6J mice with 24-hour IA.
- Replication of a prior study confirmed modest increases in C57BL/6J mice with 24-hour IA, indicating efficacy in this strain.
Conclusions:
- Four-hour intermittent access to alcohol is insufficient to elevate drinking in mice.
- The lack of response in HDID mice suggests that not all mouse genotypes exhibit increased alcohol consumption with intermittent access.
- Genotype plays a role in the response to intermittent alcohol access paradigms.
