Binge ethanol intoxication heightens subsequent ethanol intake in adolescent, but not adult, rats

FABIO M.C.; NIZHNIKOV ME; SPEAR, N.E.; PAUTASSI RM

DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOBIOLOGY

JOHN WILEY & SONS INC

Lugar: New York; Año: 2014 vol. 56 p. 574 - 583

0012-1630

A question still to be answered is whether ethanol initiation has a greater effect on ethanol consumption if it occurs during adolescence than in adulthood. This study assessed the effect of ethanol initiation during adolescence or adulthood on voluntary ethanol consumption when animals were still within the same age range. Adolescent or adult rats were given 5, 2 or 0 ethanol exposures. The animals were tested for ethanol consumption through two-bottle choice tests, before undergoing a 1 week deprivation. A two-bottle assessment was conducted after the deprivation. Adolescents, but not adults, given 2 ethanol administrations during initiation exhibited significantly higher ethanol intake during the pre-deprivation period. These adolescents also exhibited a three-fold increase in ethanol intake after 7 days of drug withdrawal, when compared with controls. These findings suggest that very brief experience with binge ethanol intoxication in adolescence, but not in adulthood, impacts later predisposition to drink.