Citation

Moench KM, Logrip ML. Alcohol Clin. Exp. Res. 2020; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/acer.14540

PMID

33351976

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Stress triggers alcohol use and relapse, with different effects by sex. Women are more sensitive to stress-related alcohol misuse, and most stressors in rodents produce sexually divergent effects. Female rodents are particularly sensitive to the stress produced by solitary housing, yet the impact of housing conditions on establishment, escalation and post-abstinence potentiation of intermittent access alcohol drinking in male and female rats, as well as the interaction of these factors with stress history, remained unknown.

METHODS: Male (n=62) and female (n=64) Wistar rats were housed individually or in pairs separated by a perforated divider. Rats were exposed to light-cued footshock stress (stress history), or cues alone (control), once daily for 3 days, followed by 8 weeks' drinking under intermittent access to 2-bottle choice (IA2BC), with 20% alcohol (v/v in water) available in addition to water for 24 h on alternate days. After 2 weeks' forced abstinence, anxiety-like behavior was assessed via defensive withdrawal testing, then IA2BC alcohol access renewed for 2 weeks to model relapse-like behavior.

RESULTS: Pair-housed female rats did not increase their alcohol intake across the 8-week drinking period, unlike all other groups, and stress history did not significantly change alcohol consumption. After abstinence, anxiety-like behavior was greatest in pair-housed stress history males, whereas alcohol intake was significantly elevated only in female rats, particularly those in solitary housing.

CONCLUSIONS: Together, these findings suggest that paired housing differentially contributes to behavior in male and female rats, blunting alcohol intake in females and unmasking stress history effects on anxiety-like behavior in males.

Language: en

Keywords

sex differences; footshock; housing; stress history