A Method for Evaluating the Reinforcing Properties of Ethanol in Rats without Water Deprivation, Saccharin Fading or Extended Access Training
2017 (English)In: Journal of Visualized Experiments, ISSN 1940-087X, E-ISSN 1940-087X, no 119, article id e53305Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Operant oral self-administration methods are commonly used to study the reinforcing properties of ethanol in animals. However, the standard methods require saccharin/sucrose fading, water deprivation and/or extended training to initiate operant responding in rats. This paper describes a novel and efficient method to quickly initiate operant responding for ethanol that is convenient for experimenters and does not require water deprivation or saccharin/sucrose fading, thus eliminating the potential confound of using sweeteners in ethanol operant self-administration studies. With this method, Wistar rats typically acquire and maintain self-administration of a 20% ethanol solution in less than two weeks of training. Furthermore, blood ethanol concentrations and rewards are positively correlated for a 30 min self-administration session. Moreover, naltrexone, an FDA-approved medication for alcohol dependence that has been shown to suppress ethanol self-administration in rodents, dose-dependently decreases alcohol intake and motivation to consume alcohol for rats self-administering 20% ethanol, thus validating the use of this new method to study the reinforcing properties of alcohol in rats.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
JOURNAL OF VISUALIZED EXPERIMENTS , 2017. no 119, article id e53305
Keywords [en]
Behavior; Issue 119; ethanol; self-administration; oral; reinforcement; animal model; addiction
National Category
Pharmacology and Toxicology
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-136675DOI: 10.3791/53305ISI: 000397847200001PubMedID: 28190044OAI: oai:DiVA.org:liu-136675DiVA, id: diva2:1089738
Note
Funding Agencies|Swedish Research Council
2017-04-202017-04-202018-01-13