Diet and diuretics in the reduction of voluntary alcohol drinking in rats

Three rats were trained and given extensive experience with an operant-conditioning model of alcohol self-administration which produces pharmacologically significant drug intake. In this model, lever presses on a fixed ratio (FR) schedule of reinforcement allowed the animal brief access to an 8% (w/v) alcohol solution. Drug intake was then assessed when the animals were given a low-sodium diet and a low-sodium diet in combination with injections of the salt-losing diuretic furosemide (Lasix). In all cases, the low-sodium diet/furosemide treatment produced a substantial reduction in drug self-administration without changing water self-administration. In one case, introducing furosemide into the home-cage drinking water without a change of diet also brought about a decrease in alcohol self-administration. The low-sodium diet alone was ineffective in this regard. These findings corroborate earlier work using this form of treatment and are discussed in terms of the possible functional mode(s) of action of the treatment. The viability of this treatment for human drug-taking is also considered.