Authors
Piercy KT. Myers RD.
Institution
Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, East Carolina University,
Greenville, NC 27858, USA.
Title
Tomato juice, chocolate drink, and other
fluids suppress volitional drinking of alcohol in the female Syrian golden
hamster.
Source
Physiology & Behavior. 57(6):1155-61, 1995 Jun.
Abstract
Although the hamster generally prefers alcohol at a level similar to that of
the rat or mouse selectively bred to consume alcohol, the drinking hamster
demonstrates neither physical dependence on alcohol nor elevated blood levels
of alcohol, which are two typical criteria characterizing an animal model of
alcoholism. The present investigation was designed to determine whether a
third criterion of an animal model (i.e., consumption of high levels of
alcohol in the presence of a palatable fluid, fulfilled by the P rat) would
be met by the female Syrian golden hamster (Mesocricetus auratus). A standard
3-bottle preference test was undertaken in 6 female hamsters over an 11 day
period, in which water was presented in one tube and, in a second tube, a v/v
solution of alcohol which was increased in concentration from 3% to 50% on
each day as follows: 3%, 5%, 7%, 9%, 12%, 15%, 20%, 25%, 30%, 40%, and 50%.
Then each hamster was offered its individually determined, maximally
preferred concentration of alcohol for 4-8 days, which was 20%, 25%, or 30%
alcohol. The mean absolute intake of alcohol during this period was 17.9 +/-
1.1 g/kg per day, whereas the mean proportion of alcohol to total fluid was
0.68 +/- 0.05. Then over a 4-day interval, a solution of
tomato juice, peach juice,
mango juice, dextrose and a chocolate beverage (Ensure
Plus), all made isocaloric to the alcohol solutions with dextrose, was placed
in the third tube simultaneously with water and the individually preferred
concentration of alcohol.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)