Assessing individual differences in ethanol preference using a cumulative dosing procedure

Preference for ethanol versus a placebo was assessed in 12 normal volunteers usina a cumulative dosing preference test. The test consisted of four sampling sessions followed by three choice sessions. During the sampling sessions subjects received either five cumulating oral doses of ethanol (0.1 g/kg per dose) or equal volumes of placebo, at 15-min intervals. Subjective and observer-rated drug effects, psychomotor performance, drug liking ratings, and breath ethanol levels were measured at regular intervals. During choice sessions, subjects first chose which of the two substances (drug or placebo) they wished to take and ingested one unit dose. Then, at 15-min intervals throughout the session, they could ingest up to ten additional unit doses of the same substance (i.e., up to 1.1 g/kg ethanol). On average, the subjects chose the ethanol-containing beverage on 75% of the choice sessions, and they self-administered a mean total dose of 0.8 g/kg per session. Subjects varied in the amount of ethanol ingested on choice sessions, and the amount they chose was related to their subjective responses to the drug during sampling. Subjects who chose the most ethanol, whereas the subjects who chose ethanol less frequently and ingested lower doses reported primarily sedative-like effects from the drug. The results demonstrate that the cumulative dosing procedure can be used effectively to evaluate drug preferences and dose preferences in normal volunteers.