Ethanol-mediated flavor conditioned preference increases after an experience with a stressful event in juvenile rats.

ORELLANA E; LESTA LG; PETRAZZINI ML; GONZALEZ F

ORLANDO

Congreso; 36th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism, June 22-26 ? Orlando, Florida; 2013

RESEARCH SOCIETY ON ALCOHOLISM

We aimed to develop a conditioned flavor preference paradigmmediated by ethanol using voluntary and intermittent consumption. Nonalcoholic beer was used as vehicle. Male Wistar rats (PD28 at the commencement of the experiment) remained with free access to food and water during training. One flavor was presented with ethanol (CS+), while the other one was presented in absence of the drug (CS-), flavors acting as CSs were counterbalanced. Dierent 30-min CS+ (without ethanol) vs. CSpreference tests, were conducted. The first one was done 24 h after training; the second test was run after one week of alcohol deprivation; a third evaluation was conducted after 30 min of restraint as stressful event; the last test was conducted 24 h after the induction of stress. In the last two tests animals were divided in dierent groups, one of them was evaluated through a CS+/EtOH vs. CStest, whereas the other group received a CS+ vs. CS- choice. A clear preference for the CS+ over CS- was no evident during the first test, after 7 days of ethanol deprivation, neither after 30 min of the induction of stress. However, a very interesting result of this experiment was that, 24 h after a stressful event, preference for CS+ was significantly higher than the preference showed during the previous tests. This eect was not observed when animals were tested in a CS+/EtOH vs. CS- trial. One possible explanation of this last result is that conditioned preference, after the induction of a stressful situation, may not be expressed when ethanol is present because of the low palatability of the drug.