The influence of early postweaning ethanol exposure on oral self-administration behavior in the rat.

The effects of three early ethanol home cage consumption procedures on the maintenance of operant lever responding reinforced by ethanol presentation were examined in the rat. Two groups of rats, 25 and 31 days of age, were exposed to 10% (v/v) ethanol as the only fluid in the home cage for 3 or 10 days. A third group, 31 days of age, were exposed to 10% ethanol or tap water for 24 h, with the fluid alternating daily for 18 days. All animals were subsequently trained to lever press using 10% ethanol reinforcement under a decreasing water restriction schedule. All three groups were found to have substantial ethanol consumption levels during the initial exposure in the home cage, ranging from 11.2 to 11.9 g/kg/day. The animals were all successfully trained to lever press in the operant chamber with ethanol as the reinforcer when limited to 15 ml/day of water in the home cage. The average number of reinforcements per day ranged from 29 to 43.5, yielding ethanol intakes from 1.06 to 1.97 g/kg in the 30-minute operant session. However, when 50 ml/day of water was available in the home cage, ethanol reinforcements were substantially reduced, with intakes which ranged from 0.14 to 0.18 g/kg/day. The data suggest that early exposure does not enhance ethanol's reinforcing properties later in the animal's life. These results were discussed in terms the effect of early ethanol exposure on later ethanol consumption and the role of ethanol initiation procedures in oral self-administration.