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The effects of age at the onset of drinking to intoxication and chronic ethanol self-administration in male rhesus macaques

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Abstract

Rationale

Consumption of alcohol begins during late adolescence in a majority of humans, and the greatest drinking occurs at 18–25 years then decreases with age.

Objectives

The present study measured the differences in ethanol intake in relation to age at the onset of ethanol access among nonhuman primates to control for self-selection in humans and isolate age effects on heavy drinking.

Methods

Male rhesus macaques were assigned first access to ethanol during late adolescence (n = 8), young adulthood (n = 8), or early middle age (n = 11). The monkeys were induced to drink ethanol (4 % w/v in water) in increasing doses (water then 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 g/kg ethanol) using a fixed-time (FT) 300-s schedule of food delivery, followed by 22 h/day concurrent access to ethanol and water for 12 months. Age-matched controls consumed isocaloric maltose–dextrin solution yoked to the late adolescents expected to be rapidly maturing (n = 4).

Results

Young adult monkeys had the greatest daily ethanol intake and blood-ethanol concentration (BEC). Only late adolescents escalated their intake (ethanol, not water) during the second compared to the first 6 months of access. On average, plasma testosterone level was consistent with age differences in maturation and tended to increase throughout the experiment more for control than ethanol-drinking adolescent monkeys.

Conclusions

Young adulthood in nonhuman primates strongly disposes toward heavy drinking, which is independent of sociocultural factors present in humans. Ethanol drinking to intoxication during the critical period of late adolescence is associated with escalation to heavy drinking.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by NIH grants OD011092, AA109431, AA010760, and AA013510. Some of the data in this manuscript were presented at the meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism, San Antonio, TX, USA in June 26–30 2010 and at the meeting of the International Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism, Sapporo, Japan, in September 8–12 2012.

Conflict of interest

The authors do not have a financial relationship with the organization that sponsored this research. The authors have full control of all primary data and agree to allow the journal to review their data if requested.

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Correspondence to Kathleen A. Grant.

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Supplemental Fig. 1

Daily ethanol intake among late adolescent male rhesus monkeys ordered from the heaviest to the lightest drinker. The data in panels a, b, c and e are from monkeys who first became intoxicated prior to 5 years of age. The first and second 6 months of access to ethanol are split (break) (JPEG 75 kb)

High resulotion image (TIFF 4666 kb)

Supplemental Fig. 2

Daily ethanol intake among young adult male rhesus monkeys ordered from the heaviest to the lightest drinker. The first and second 6 months of access to ethanol are split (break) (JPEG 78 kb)

High resulotion image (TIFF 4697 kb)

Supplemental Fig. 3

Daily ethanol intake among middle-aged rhesus monkeys ordered from the heaviest to the lightest drinker. The first and second 6 months of access to ethanol are split (break) (JPEG 103 kb)

High resulotion image (TIFF 6424 kb)

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Helms, C.M., Rau, A., Shaw, J. et al. The effects of age at the onset of drinking to intoxication and chronic ethanol self-administration in male rhesus macaques. Psychopharmacology 231, 1853–1861 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-013-3417-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-013-3417-x

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