Time-course of elevated ethanol intake in adolescent relative to adult rats under continuous, voluntary-access conditions.

摘要

Alcohol intake is elevated during adolescence in humans and other species. The present study examined the time-course and pattern of elevated ethanol intake through adolescence and into adulthood, contrasted this intake with ontogenetic patterns of food and water intake, and determined whether adolescent ethanol exposure elevates voluntary ethanol consumption in adulthood. Adolescent and adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were singly-housed with continuous access to both water and 1of 3 experimental solutions: unsweetened ethanol, sweetened ethanol, and saccharin alone. Ethanol consumption plateaued at high levels in adolescence, declined sharply in late adolescence, and reached adult-typical consumption by P70. Food and water intake declined more gradually. Adult animals drank similar amounts of ethanol regardless of the age of first ethanol exposure. These data suggest that elevated ethanol intake during adolescence is not simply a function of age-typical typical hyperphagia or hyperdipsia, and does not necessarily increase ethanol drinking in adulthood.