Revisiting Intragastric Ethanol Intubation as a Dependence Induction Method for Studies of Ethanol Reward and Motivation in Rats

Abstract

These findings suggest that intragastric ethanol administration produces a behavioral profile consistent with ethanol dependence (i.e., significant withdrawal signs after termination of ethanol exposure and elevated anxiety-like behavior persisting beyond completion of physical withdrawal), and that the intubation procedure itself does not produce lasting nonspecific anxiety-like effects. Thus, under the conditions employed here, this procedure provides an effective tool for inducing and evaluating the consequences of ethanol dependence in animal models of ethanol reward and motivation.