Is initial sensitivity to ethanol correlated with alcohol preference in alcohol-drinking and non-drinking rats?

The initial sensitivity to ethanol was determined by hypothermia and sleeping time induced by an injection of ethanol (2.5 g/kg, intraperitoneally) in Long-Evans rats whose response to ethanol was later characterized in drinking, non-drinking and other rats. The response to a nociceptive stimulus (electric shock) in drinking rats and non-drinking rats was also studied. There was no correlation between initial sensitivity to ethanol and ethanol consumption and all rats exhibited the same behaviour towards electric shock. Ethanol elimination was not significantly different in both groups after an i.p. injection of a 2.5 g/kg dose of ethanol. These data indicate that our selected drinking and non-drinking rats differ in their ethanol intake behaviour but not in their initial sensitivity to ethanol or their sensitivity to a nociceptive stimulus. Preference for, and initial sensitivity to, ethanol are therefore not related in our rats.