ANXIOLITIC EFFECTS OF ETHANOL IN PREWEANLING RATS MEASURED BY MEANS OF THE LIGHT-DARK PARADIGM.

ARIAS, C.; COLOMBETTI, A; PUETA, M; MOLINA, J.C.

Huerta-Grande

Congreso; Sociedad Argentina de Neurociencias; 2009

Sociedad Argentina de Neurociencias

One of the properties of acutely administered ethanol is the reduction of anxiety. In infant and adult rats it has been shown that ethanol has anxiolytic effects in a variety of paradigms. The light-dark test is a paradigm usually utilized to evaluate the effects of anxiolitic drugs (including ethanol). This test is based on the innate aversion of rodents to brightly illuminated areas.The goals of the present study were: a) to evaluate the sensitivity of this test to the anxiolitic effects of ethanol in preweanling rats, and b) to analize whether ethanol intake in infant rats varies as a function of whether the intake test was conducted in a brightly or dark condition. In Exp 1, 14-day-old rats were given 0 or 0.5 g/kg ethanol 5 minutes before testing in the light-dark test. In Exp 2 preweanling rats were tested in terms of ethanol (6) or water intake in a brightly or in a dark environment during two consecutive days. In Exp1 ethanol increased the amount of time that pups expent in the brighly area. This result indicates that this technique is useful to evaluate anxiolitic effects in infant rats. Additionally this result is consistent with previous studies showing anxiolitic effects of ethanol in preweanling rats. In Exp 2 rats tested in the light condition consumed more ethanol (relative to water) than animals tested in the dark condition, indicating that the anxiolitic effect of ethanol may contribute to the acceptance of the drug in preweanling rats.