MATERNAL ODOR INCREASES THE CONSUMPTION OF A SOLUTION THAT MIMICS BITTER AND SWEET COMPONENTS OF ETHANOL TASTE IN RATS

PAUTASSI, R.; SUAREZ, A.; IFRÁN, M. C.; KAMENETZKY, G.

Cordoba

Congreso; IX INTERNATIONAL MEETING of the Latin American Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism; 2019

Latin American Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism (LASBRA)

Several studies showed that early exposure to ethanol increased the subsequent acceptance of this drug on rats. However, little attention has been devoted to the interaction between the alcohol?s taste -isolated from the unconditioned effects of the drug- and a familiar odor in the early ontogeny of the rat. Studies from our laboratory showed that a familiar (maternal) odor increased the consumption behaviors toward an artificial nipple containing an unpalatable tastant (quinine) in newborn rats. The present study assessed the influence of the own mother?s odor (familiar due pre-exposure in the nest) on intake and grasp responses toward an artificial nipple providing a solution with a mixture of tastes (sucrose 0.1 M + quinine 0.0001 M) that emulates the taste of alcohol, in 4-day old pups. The results showed that the mother?s odor enhanced intake and seeking responses toward an artificial nipple that provided the solution that mimicked the taste of alcohol (Experiment 1). This pattern of results was not evoked by the odor of an unrelated dam, nor was observed when the nipple delivered water (Experiment 2). The main new finding of the present study is that animals tested in the presence of the mother (and hence exposed to its odor cues) exhibited enhanced seeking and intake of a solution that mimics the chemosensory properties of ethanol without the unconditioned effects of the drug. This suggests that, during the early ontogeny, the exposure to familiar odors may facilitate the acceptance of flavors with aversive components (i.e., bitter taste), and therefore may act as a permissive factor of ethanol intake.