Ethanol Intake on Preclinical Models: Methods of Assessment and Effects on Dopamine Signaling

PAUTASSI, RICARDO M.; WILLE-BILLE, ARANZA; FERNÁNDEZ, MACARENA S.; FABIO, MARÍA CAROLINA

Neuromethods

Humana

Año: 2022 vol. 193 p. 163 - 181

0893-2336

Alcohol (ethanol) use is associated with significant health problems. This prompted efforts to recreate ethanol intake in murine animal models. The present chapter discusses the advantages and disadvantages of several methods to assess ethanol self-administration in these animal models. We then describe in detail a variant of a drinking-in-the-dark procedure, which exposes rats to ethanol drinking in a single bottle of ethanol (concentration range 5–10%), 2 h a day, three times a week, thus mimicking some aspects of the intermittent access procedure. The involvement of the dopaminergic system in ethanol self-administration, and some consequences of ethanol self-administration in this transmitter system, is then discussed