Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 20 (Tukholmankatu 8), FI-00014 Helsinki, Finland.
Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Biophysics RAS, Institutskaya, 3, Pushchino, 142290, Moscow region, Russia.
Alcohol Alcohol. 2022 May 10;57(3):396-403. doi: 10.1093/alcalc/agab063.
Alcohol exposure during adolescence is associated with both increased risk for alcohol use disorders and anxiety in adulthood. Our present experiments examined this association using alcohol-preferring AA (Alko Alcohol) rats selected for high voluntary alcohol drinking.
Two groups of female AA rats acquired alcohol drinking at different ages. We gave the adolescent-onset group free choice to 10% alcohol and water for seven weeks, starting on post-natal day 42 (PND 42), whereas the adult-onset group started drinking alcohol on PND 112. After the 7-week drinking, we withdrew the adolescent group from alcohol for two weeks, followed by another voluntary 7-week drinking period, started at the same age as the adult-onset group. We assessed anxiety-like behaviour repeatedly during alcohol drinking with open field and elevated plus maze tests. At the end of alcohol drinking, we also tested the rats using the light/dark box, stress-induced body temperature test and social dominance test.
During the first 7-week alcohol drinking, adolescent rats exhibited significantly slower acquisition of alcohol drinking and lower alcohol preference than the adult-onset group. However, when tested at the same age as the adult-onset rats, they displayed identical alcohol intake and preference. We found no alcohol-induced effects on anxiety- or stress-related behaviour in the experimental groups at any time points.
These data show that the genetically determined phenotype of high alcohol drinking of the female alcohol-preferring AA rats is not associated with a predisposition to develop anxiety-like behaviour following voluntary alcohol exposure, even when initiated during adolescence.
青春期接触酒精与成年后酒精使用障碍和焦虑风险增加有关。我们目前的实验使用选择高自愿饮酒的酒精偏好 AA（Alko Alcohol）大鼠来检验这种关联。
两组雌性 AA 大鼠在不同年龄开始饮酒。我们让青春期开始组在出生后第 42 天（PND 42）开始自由选择 10%酒精和水，持续 7 周，而成年开始组在 PND 112 开始饮酒。在 7 周的饮酒后，我们将青春期组从酒精中撤出两周，然后开始与成年开始组相同年龄的另一个自愿 7 周饮酒期。我们使用开阔场地和高架十字迷宫测试在饮酒期间反复评估类似焦虑的行为。在饮酒结束时，我们还使用明暗箱、应激诱导体温测试和社会统治测试测试大鼠。
在最初的 7 周酒精饮酒期间，青春期大鼠的酒精饮酒获取速度明显慢于成年开始组，酒精偏好也较低。然而，当与成年开始组在相同年龄测试时，它们表现出相同的酒精摄入量和偏好。在任何时间点，我们都没有发现实验组的酒精诱导对焦虑或应激相关行为有影响。
这些数据表明，雌性酒精偏好 AA 大鼠的高酒精饮酒的遗传决定表型与自愿酒精暴露后发展为类似焦虑行为的倾向无关，即使在青春期开始。
