ETHANOL-INDUCED LOCOMOTION AND INTAKE AFTER ENVIROMENTAL ENRICHMENT IN THE OFFSPRING OF RATS SELECTED FOR HIGH OR LOW ETHANOL INTAKE AT ADOLESCENCE

SUAREZ, A; FERNANDEZ M.; PAUTASSI R.M.

Cordoba

Congreso; XXXIII Congreso Anual de la Sociedad Argentina de Neurociencias; 2018

Sociedad Argentina de Neurociencias

Animal models of genetic risk for alcohol use disorders include rat lines selected for high or low-ethanol consumption during adulthood or, as developed in our lab, during adolescence. The latter is the developmental stage in which the onset and escalation of ethanol intake takes place. Recent work suggested that environmental enrichment (EE) could reduce the problematic use of ethanol and other substances of abuse, although others indicated that EE could exacerbate ethanol intake when applied during adolescence. We assessed the effect of environmental enrichment rearing during adolescence upon ethanol-induced locomotion and intake, in two lines of rats, derived from mating ?HIGH? or ?LOW? ethanol-drinking F2 parents. From postnatal day 21 (DP 21) to 42, the animals ? males and females -- were reared under EE or standard conditions (SC). Ethanol-induced locomotion was evaluated acutely and after 9 administrations of ethanol (Experiment 1), and voluntary ethanol intake was measured across 3 weeks (Experiment 2). Ethanol-induced locomotion was lower in EE than in SC rats, regardless line (HIGH or LOW). After repeated administrations of the drug, this effect was observed only in male HIGH rats. In experiment 2, ethanol intake was significantly greaer in in HIGH vs. LOW rats and, within females, in EE vs. SC rats. These results are consistent with previous studies indicating that EE may have deleterious effects upon ethanol intake, when applied during adolescence.