Cumulative vs. acute dose-response procedures produce differential BAC and behavioral functions for ethanol

The discriminative stimulus attributes of ethanol (ETOH) were characterized in rats trained to discriminate between 1.25 g/kg ETOH and saline. The ETOH generalization functions were assessed using both acute and cumulative dosing procedures. The cumulative procedures differed in the individual incremented doses used to generate the functions. Acute dosing procedures produced discriminative functions that were significantly different from cumulative dose-response curves (DRCs). Similar cumulative DRC's were generated within each cumulative dosing procedure, whereas significant differences were produced between the two dosing incremented procedures. When blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) were quantified, a cumulative testing procedure produced significantly lower BACs than acute testing procedures at every dose above the initial or starting dose. Interestingly, response rate functions did not differ within or between cumulative and acute procedures. These data may suggest that differential ETOH dosing procedures may differentially influence the behavioral choice and BAC functions in rats, and cautions against the use of cumulative procedures to assess shifts in DRCs during chronic treatments without a concomitant assessment of BACs.