Dietary manipulation of ethanol preference in the Syrian golden hamster

Male Golden Syrian hamsters, in which ethanol preference was previously established, were fed a basal diet supplemented with essential fatty acid-rich oils (increased weekly from 10-160 g/kg diet), cholesterol (10 g/kg diet) or retinol palmitate (100 or 200 mg/kg diet), each in an independent study. Within 4-5 weeks, all three supplements were associated with significantly decreased ethanol preference. No consistent change in the fatty acid composition of liver or brain was associated with the decrease in ethanol preference but, in ethanol-fed hamsters, each of the supplements was associated with an increase in total cholesterol and the cholesterol/phospholipid ratio in liver. The essential fatty acid-induced reduction in ethanol preference was not associated with a significant change in blood ethanol elimination rate or time.