Blood ethanol concentrations in rats drinking sucrose/ethanol solutions

Background: The addition of sucrose to ethanol solutions results in a subst antial increase in ethanol self-administration by rats that are deprived of neither food nor water. however, if sucrose alters ethanol absorption or m etabolism, resulting in blood ethanol concentrations (BECs) not different f rom those resulting from lower intakes of ethanol/water solutions, then the usefulness of sucrose/ethanol mixtures in increasing ethanol consumption i s questionable. The present study was conducted to determine whether the ad dition of sucrose to ethanol solutions altered BECs in an operant self-admi nistration paradigm. Methods: Tail blood (from male Long-Evans rats) was collected 30 min after the intake of four different solutions, i.e., 5% sucrose/20% ethanol, 5% su crose/10% ethanol,2% sucrose/10% ethanol, and 10% ethanol. Results: Ethanol intakes (mean, 1.57 +/- 0.21 g/kg) and BECs (mean, 78.4 +/ - 9.3 mg/100 ml) were highest when 5% sucrose was added to the ethanol solu tion. Moreover, the ratios between ethanol intakes and resulting BECs were approximately the same for all solutions. Conclusions: These findings indicate that, under the conditions of this pro cedure, the BEC reached is dependent on the amount of ethanol consumed and is not influenced by the addition of sucrose to the solution.