[Ethanol pharmacokinetics in narcotic action and endogenous ethanol in female rats]

Experiments were made on female rats to demonstrate a positive correlation between the time of ethanol anesthesia in estrus and diestrus and (1) subsequent preference of ethanol to water (r = 0.68) and (2) ethanol consumption dosage (r = 0.72). In the same rats (during estrus and diestrus), the endogenous level and blood concentrations of ethanol were measured 30 minutes after administering the anesthetic dose (4.5 g/kg) and during the animal's "egress" from anesthesia. The low level of endogenous ethanol and rapid decrease of the blood ethanol concentration upon administering the anesthetic dose during estrus were characteristic of those female rats which, under the conditions of free choice, preferred ethanol to water and consumed it in large doses.