Dietary lead increases ethanol consumption in the rat.

Abstract

Rats fed either a diet containing 500 ppm (parts per million) Pb (as lead acetate) or an unadulterated control diet for 50 days were offered a 15% ethanol (ETOH) solution in a nonchoice (one-bottle) test situation. The results from this test indicated that Pb-diet animals consumed greater amounts of the ETOH solution than did controls. In a subsequent choice (three-bottle, two-fluid) test situation offering a nonpreferred ETOH solution or tap water as alternatives, Pb-diet animals once again ingested greater amounts of the ETOH solution. These findings are discussed in terms of possible Pb-induced increases in emotionality and the potential stress-reduction properties of ETOH.

The Health Effects of Low Level Exposure to Lead

“…Nation et al (61) have shown that naive rats find 15% solutions of alcohol aversive, but when given lead in their diet sufficient to raise their blood leads to 61 JLg/dl, the rats increase their alcohol intake in both forced choice and free choice paradigms. Lead-fed rodents were also more responsive in the avoidance training period.…”

“…The studies of Kitchen et al (42,41) and Nation et al (61) suggest that studies of lead exposure in drug and alcohol abusers are worth pursuit. Case control studies of older individuals who are past the ages of peak exposure should benefit from new advances in the technology of in vivo lead measure ment.…”

Perinatal lead exposure and relapse to drug-seeking behavior in the rat: a cocaine reinstatement study

“…In the adult organism, chronic low-level lead exposure has been shown to increase alcohol consumption (Nation et al 1986(Nation et al , 1987, attenuate the locomotor-stimulating properties of cocaine (Grover et al 1993;Nation et al 1996), and reduce the impact of cocaine on schedulecontrolled operant responding (Burkey et al 1997). With perinatal (gestation/lactation) lead exposure, issues related to toxicant/drug interactions seemingly are more complex.…”

Lead exposure and violent crime in the early twentieth century

“…Experimental studies of non-human animals yield similar results. Nation et al (1986) and Virgolini et al (1999), for instance, find that rats fed a diet containing lead acetate consumed more ethanol than control rats.…”