Taste and diet preferences as predictors of drug self-administration.

Abstract

Several observations suggest that there may be specific, important relationships between taste/diet preferences and drug selfadministration. These include reports of: (a) differences in drug selfadministration in rats with differing baseline taste or diet preferences, (b) correlations between the intake of saccharin and the intake of alcohol, and (c) changes in drug self-administration when sweettasting solutions are provided as alternative reinforcers. In humans, there is a high comorbidity between eating disorders and drug and alcohol abuse. Further, this relationship extends to subclinical levels of each behavior. With a better under-standing of these relationships, it may be possible to use measures of diet and taste preferences, along with dietary manipulations, to predict and reduce vulnerability to drug abuse, as well as to monitor and improve current treatments for drug abuse. Animal and human studies relevant to the relationship between diet and taste preferences and drug abuse will be reviewed below, followed by a brief discussion of the possible mechanism underlying the relationship.