Alcohol binge-drinking, especially among adolescents and young adults, is a serious public health concern. The present study examined ethanol binge-like drinking by peri-adolescent [postnatal days (PNDs 30—72)] and adult (PNDs 90—132) alcohol-preferring (P) rats with a drinking-in-the-dark—multiple-scheduled-acces (DID-MSA) procedure used by our laboratory. Male and female P rats were provided concurrent access to 15% and 30% ethanol for three 1-hr sessions across the dark cycle 5 days/week. For the 1st week, adolescent and adult female P rats consumed 3.4 and 1.6 g/kg of ethanol, respectively, during the 1st hr of access, whereas for male rats the values were 3.5 and 1.1 g/kg of ethanol, respectively. Adult intakes increased to ~2.0 g/kg/hr and adolescent intakes decreased to ~2.5 g/kg/hr across the 6 weeks of ethanol access. The daily ethanol intake of adult DID-MSA rats approximated or modestly exceeded that seen in continuous access (CA) rats or the selection criterion for P rats (≥ 5g/kg/day). However, in general, the daily ethanol intake of DID-MSA peri-adolescent rats significantly exceeded that of their CA counterparts. BELs were assessed at 15-min intervals across the 3rd hr of access during the 4th week. Ethanol intake was 1.7 g/kg vs. 2.7 g/kg and BELs were 57 mg% vs. 100 mg% at 15- and 60-min, respectively. Intoxication induced by DID-MSA in female P rats was assessed during the 1st vs. 4th week of ethanol access. Level of impairment did not differ between the 2 weeks (106 vs. 97 sec latency to fall, 120 sec criterion) and was significant (vs. naïve controls) only during the 4th week. Overall, these findings support the use of the DID-MSA procedure in rats, and underscore the presence of age- and sex-dependent effects mediating ethanol binge-like drinking in P rats.

SAL produces reinforcing effects in the posterior VTA of Wistar rats, and these effects are mediated by activation of DA neurons and local 5-HT3 receptors.