The AA and ANA rat lines, selected for differences in voluntary alcohol consumption

The offspring of rats that voluntarily select larger quantities of alcohol are heavier consumers of alcohol than the offspring of rats that tend to avoid it. Such selective breeding, repeated over many generations, was used to develop the AA (Alko, Alcohol) line of rats which prefer 10% alcohol to water, and the ANA (Alko, Non-Alcohol) line of rats which choose water to the virtual exclusion of alcohol. In addition to demonstrating the likely role of genetic factors in alcohol consumption, these lines have been used to find behavioral, metabolic, and neurochemical correlates of differential alcohol intake. Some of the line differences that have been found involve the reinforcing effects of ethanol, the changes in consumption produced by alcohol deprivation and nutritional factors, the behavioral and adrenal monoamine reactions to mild stress, the development of tolerance, the accumulation of acetaldehyde during ethanol metabolism, and the brain levels of serotonin. It is hoped that these studies will lead to a better understanding of the genetically-determined mechanisms that influence the selection of alcohol.