Alcohol intake in selected lines of mice: importance of sex and genotype.

Mice selected by McClearn and Kakihana for differences in ethanol-induced sleep time were used as subjects. In Experiment 1, mice from the long-sleep (LS) and short-sleep (SS) lines were offered a choice of water or solution GS consisting of 3% glucose and .16% sodium saccharin (w/v); or a choice of water or solution GS + E that contained GS solution plus 4% ethanol (w/v). In Experiment 2, mice from the first experiment were provided with a three-way choice among water, solution GS, and solution GS + E. In both experiments, SS mice (alcohol-insensitive) consumed more GS + E than LS mice (alcohol-sensitive). In addition, female mice drank considerably more GS + E solution than male mice. Thus, consumption of sweetened ethanol in both a two-way choice (water and GS + E) and a three-way choice (water, GS, and GS + E) is dependent on both genotype and sex. High genetic sensitivity to ethanol was associated with low consumption, and vice versa. Although females consumed more alcohol than males, famales of these lines have not been previously found to show lower sensitivity to acute alcohol administration.