Effects of weight restriction and palatability on the apparent pharmacological regulation of alcohol consumption by rats in a limited access paradigm.

A number of different studies have suggested that the amount of alcohol consumed in a single bout by free-feeding rats is regulated by its pharmacological consequences. The present experiments were designed to test the limits of this apparent pharmacological regulation by examining the effect of weight restriction and enhanced palatability, two variables that have been shown to increase alcohol consumption when the alcohol is continuously available, on amount of alcohol consumed in a single bout. Increasing the palatability of the alcohol solution by the addition of saccharin enhanced consumption substantially such that the blood alcohol levels (BALS) achieved were more than twice those of animals which had drunk unadulterated alcohol. Weight restriction to 80% of free-feeding weight (FFW), however, did not increase alcohol consumption under these conditions. The similarity between these results and those obtained in studies of the regulation of feeding are discussed.