Attenuation by antidepressant drugs of alcohol intake in rats

Ethanol preferring rats were selected and showed a constant voluntary intake of a 12% ethanol solution during 14 days (about 5 g/kg body weight daily). These alcohol preferring rats were daily IP injected during two weeks with different antidepressant drugs, according to their specificity of action: nomifensine (5 and 10 mg/kg) and maprotiline (2.5 and 5 mg/kg) (dopamine uptake inhibitors), desipramine and metapramine (5 and 10 mg/kg) (noradrenaline uptake inhibitors) clomipramine and doxepin (5 and 10 mg/kg) (serotonin uptake inhibitors). Only desipramine, 5 and 10 mg/kg, metapramine, 10 mg/kg, clomipramine, 5 and 10 mg/kg and doxepin, 10 mg/kg, were able to reduce significantly the ethanol intake. These drugs specifically inhibit noradrenaline or serotonin uptake. These data lead us to think that norepinephrine and/or serotonin, but not dopamine, are involved in the voluntary intake of alcohol.