CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

Animal models of ethanol self-administration are crucial to dis-sect the neurobiological mechanisms underlying AUD. Yet only a few of these induce pharmacologically relevant levels of alcohol consumption and rarely the alcohol self-administration co-occurs with other addictive behaviors. The model here outlined induces, in male rats and via exposure to high levels of sugar prior to each self-administration session, significant ethanol preference and in-take. Whether these effects are also shown by females or modified by relevant changes in the methodology (e.g., forced-choice etha-nol self-administration or escalation in ethanol concentration) or by prior ethanol exposure have not been, however, assessed. This work aims to address these gaps. On Exp.1, female and male Wistar rats (N = 6?10) were exposed to BINGE (BE) or CONTROL eating (derived from a highly palatable food), immediately followed by two-bottle choice intake tests (10% w/w ethanol vs. water), over 10 sessions. Both male and female rats exposed to BE drank significantly more ethanol than CONTROL peers. Exp.2 was assessed the effect of repeated ethanol exposure during adolescence in BE-mediated vol-untary ethanol self-administration, in female rats. This experiment also assessed if BE-mediated ethanol self-administration would also emerge when tested via forced-choice, single-bottle, tests, with in-creasing concentration of ethanol. Female rats (N = 9?11) were give 11 intubations of 0 or 4gEtOH/kg across adolescence (PN25-PN45). At adulthood, they were exposed to BE or CONTROL conditions, followed by single-bottle intake tests (6?10% w/w ethanol), over 10 sessions. Rats exposed to ethanol as adolescents and given BE experience, but not those given BE but exposed to vehicle at ado-lescence, exhibited significantly greater ethanol intake than peers. To summarize, female rats exposed to BE exhibited similar ethanol self-administration as males, when tested via two-bottle choice tests. When testing comprised a single bottle and increased etha-nol concentrations, only those females with a history of adolescent ethanol exposure and BE at adulthood displayed robust ethanol self- administration. The results highlight the relevance of heavy episodic drinking during adolescence to promote engagement with alcohol later in life. The results also provide new evidence on the promoting effect that high-caloric food can exert on subsequent ethanol intake and preference.