The Majchrowicz binge model of alcohol dependence: A valid model for comparing male and female rats

Alcohol use disorders (AUD) among women have steadily risen over the past decade. This increase is due in part to increased rates of drinking among some populations of women, yet relatively little is known about alcohol in women. Until recently, the majority of clinical and preclinical studies investigating AUD have focused on these effects in males, including in the Majchrowicz binge model of alcohol dependence. Therefore, the objective of this study was to perform a retrospective analysis of intoxication behavior and withdrawal severity in adult male and female Sprague Dawley rats using the Majchrowicz model. Rats were gavaged intragastrically with ethanol diet every 8 h for 4 days with doses titrated based on the rat's intoxication behavior. Ten hours after the final dose of alcohol, withdrawal behavior was assessed for 17 h. Males were slightly more intoxicated behaviorally than females, which resulted in females receiving a slightly larger dose of ethanol per day. Despite these differences in intoxication behavior, similar blood ethanol concentrations (BECs) and withdrawal behaviors were observed for males and females. Altogether, these data suggest that while slight differences in intoxication and therefore dosing occur in the Majchrowicz model of alcohol dependence, the model reliably produces similar BECs and minimizes differences in withdrawal severity. This is further supported by a principal component analysis, which confirmed moderate overlap between sexes based on these parameters. Thus, this model is useful for making direct comparisons between groups, and here between sexes, where slight differences in ethanol pharmacokinetics are known to occur.