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Differential involvement of anxiety and novelty preference levels on oral ethanol consumption in rats

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Abstract

Rationale

Drug addiction is defined as a recurring cycle of intoxication, abstinence and relapse. The behavioural trait of novelty seeking is frequently observed in alcohol abusers. Moreover, converging evidence indicates that anxious individuals are also predisposed to alcohol abuse.

Objectives

We have analyzed the respective implication of those two behavioural factors on vulnerability to ethanol intake on rats in situations designed to reflect drug intoxication and relapse phases in humans.

Methods

In a general population of Wistar rats, animals were tested in both the light/dark box and the novelty preference tests. Ethanol consumption was measured in a two-bottle free-choice procedure across three successive procedures. Animals were first exposed to increasing concentrations of ethanol (2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 % for 8 days at each concentration). Then, the concentration of the solution was diminished from 12 to 6 %. Finally, all rats were re-exposed to 6 % ethanol after 12 days of ethanol deprivation.

Results

Novelty preference predicted the amount of ethanol consumed across all phases. In contrast, anxiety was associated with a quicker recovery of ethanol consumption after the concentration drop and a greater increase in ethanol consumption after deprivation.

Conclusions

Novelty seeking and anxiety are both but differentially implicated in predisposition to ethanol abuse. Whereas novelty seeking is related to the amount of ethanol consumed, anxiety is associated to higher ethanol consumption when ethanol concentration is decreased or after ethanol deprivation.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by grants from MILDT/INSERM (contract no. 4TX10H) and Conseil Régional de Haute Normandie.

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Author notes

  1. Dominique Duterte-Boucher

    Present address: Equipe Facteurs Neurotrophiques et Différenciation Neuronale, INSERM U982, Différenciation et Communication Neuronale et Neuroendocrine (DC2N), IRIB, Faculté de Médecine et de Pharmacie de Rouen, 22, Bld Gambetta, 76183, Rouen Cedex, France

  2. Yann Pelloux

    Present address: Institut de Neuroscience de la Timone, CNRS UMR 7289, Université de Aix Marseille, Campus Santé Timone, 27, Bd Jean Moulin, 13385, Marseille Cedex 05, France

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Unité de Neuropsychopharmacologie Expérimentale, EA 4359, Institut de Recherche et d’Innovation Biomédicale (IRIB), Faculté de Médecine et de Pharmacie de Rouen, 22, Bld Gambetta, 76183, Rouen Cedex, France

    Yann Pelloux, Jean Costentin & Dominique Duterte-Boucher

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  1. Yann Pelloux
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  2. Jean Costentin
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Correspondence to Dominique Duterte-Boucher.

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Figure 5

Correlation between the time spent in the novel compartment during the novelty preference test and ethanol consumption expressed as ethanol intake (g/kg/day; left panel) or ethanol ratio (right panel) during the progressive increase of the ethanol concentration for the 8, 10 and 12% of ethanol concentration. N = 50 rats. (GIF 266 kb)

High resolution image (TIFF 1915 kb)

Figure 6

Correlation between the time spent in the novel compartment during the novelty preference test and ethanol consumption expressed as ethanol intake (g/kg/day; left panels) or ethanol ratio (right panels). The upper panels show the correlation between the time spent in the novel compartment and ethanol consumption during the whole 20-day period of the concentration drop from 12% to 6% (w/v). The bottom panels show the correlations between the time spent in the novel compartment and ethanol consumption during the first 2-day period (light grey circle) or during the second 2-day period (dark grey circle) of re-exposure following a 12-day abstinence period. N = 50 rats. (GIF 231 kb)

High resolution image (TIFF 1667 kb)

Figure 7

Correlation between the time spent in the light compartment of the light/dark box and ethanol consumption expressed as ethanol intake (g/kg/day; left panel) or ethanol ratio (right panel) during the 4-day period before (grey circle) or after (black circle) the concentration drop from 12% to 6% (w/v).. N = 50 rats. (GIF 285 kb)

High resolution image (TIFF 153 kb)

Figure 8

Correlation between the time spent in the light compartment of the light/dark box and ethanol consumption expressed as ethanol intake (g/kg/day; left upper panel) or ethanol ratio (right upper panel) during the 2-day period before (grey circle) or after (black circle) a 12-day abstinence period. The bottom panels shows the correlations between the time spent in the light compartment and the difference in ethanol intake (g/kg/d) (left panel) or the difference in ethanol ratio (%) (right panel) after and before the 12-day abstinence period. N = 50 rats. (GIF 201 kb)

High resolution image (TIFF 1429 kb)

Figure 9

Sucrose intake of a 4% sucrose solution of Low Novelty Seekers (LNS) and High Novelty Seekers (HNS), before (pre-shift) and after (post-shift) exposure to a 16% sucrose solution. Mean ± SEM of 18 animals per group. Differences in 4% sucrose consumption, before and after negative contrast: p<0.05: * (Fisher's LSD test). (GIF 1 kb)

High resolution image (TIFF 40 kb)

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Pelloux, Y., Costentin, J. & Duterte-Boucher, D. Differential involvement of anxiety and novelty preference levels on oral ethanol consumption in rats. Psychopharmacology 232, 2711–2721 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-015-3910-5

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