An experimental model of self-intoxication in C57 mice.

Male C57BL/6J mice offered unrestricted access to food, water and 10% ethanol, exhibited obvious intoxication when treated with the alcohol dehydrogenase inhibitor, 4-methylpyrazole (4MP) by chronic infusion. Plasma concentrations of ethanol ranged from 156 +/- 43 mg/dl at midday to 254 +/- 31 mg/dl at midnight producing a twenty-fold increase in the total exposure to blood alcohol. Illness sufficiently severe to require intervention occurred in five of the ten mice in the experimental group, while controls treated with 4MP and offered only water to drink displayed no adverse effects. The continuation of drinking despite life-threatening toxicity suggests these mice failed to make an association between the consumption of ethanol and its consequences.