Voluntary ethanol consumption and high Km (mM range) brain and liver aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) activity were measured in male rats of the Long-Evans, Wistar and Sprague-Dawley strains. The total amounts of ethanol consumed by the three strains did not differ significantly, nor did the levels of cerebral ALDH activity. Levels of brain ALDH did not differ as a function of ethanol exposure and across strains. Levels of ethanol consumption correlated better with levels of brain than liver aldehyde-oxidizing capacity, which were tested separately for each strain and also combining all the animals. Inherent variation in brain ALDH may be a biochemical counterpart of observed differences in voluntary ethanol intake within strains.

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