A ferret model of alcohol consumption during adolescence

Binge drinking is a drinking pattern that results in a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08 g/dL or higher in a 2-h period. Binge drinking rates are often highest in adolescents. Persistent adolescent binge drinking has unique consequences and can produce social, cognitive, and executive function deficits. Most of what we know about the mechanisms underlying the effects of adolescent alcohol exposure comes from rodent studies. We developed an adolescent alcohol consumption paradigm in ferrets termed Intermittent One-Bottle (IOB). Ferrets received a bottle of 5% alcohol for 24 h (no water). Following this alcohol only day, ferrets had ad-lib access to both water and 5% alcohol (2-bottle choice) for the remaining days of the week. This 7-day cycle was repeated for 9 weeks. Animal BACs were assessed. After the drinking period, ex vivo electrophysiology recordings were collected from layer V medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) pyramidal neurons. Average alcohol consumption on two-bottle and one-bottle days was significantly higher in males than females. Average BAC for males was above the level of legal intoxication. Males were split between heavy and light drinkers, with heavy drinkers having significantly higher alcohol consumption, BAC levels, and mPFC excitability. Despite low consumption in females, they displayed significant changes in action potential latency, onset time, and width. Our findings show for the first time that ferrets can drink voluntarily at physiological doses. Intermittent one-bottle drinking results in moderate to heavy alcohol consumption with significant sex differences.