Ethanol and cocaine intake by rats selectively bred for oral opioid acceptance

Lines which accept or reject the potent opioid etonitazene, and a randomly bred control line, were assessed for the specificity of selective breeding. Drug-naive subjects from generation 8 were offered a continuous choice between water and 10% ethanol for 20 days. There was no difference between the accepting and rejecting lines in preference for one fluid, or in amount of ethanol consumed. The same rats were then given a choice between water and increasing concentrations (0.08-0.64 mg/ml) of cocaine, 7 days at each concentration. There were no differences among the lines in preference for the drug, but the rejecting line drank more of the cocaine solution than the accepting line. Finally, these rats were subjected to the regimen used in choosing rats for selective breeding, 4 days of a water-etonitazene choice. In their preference for etonitazene the order of the lines was as expected: accepting > control > rejecting. In addition, the accepting line drank more of the etonitazene solution than the other two lines. These data suggest that selection has been rather specific and not for a generalized tendency to become intoxicated.