Alcohol exposure pattern and physical dependence.

Abstract

Intoxicating animals by inhalation of ethanol vapor allows no possibility of determining accurate daily absorbed doses of ethanol. The daily BAC versus time curve may be considered as a picture of animal intoxication during the experimental period, and the area under the BAC curve (A) indicates the intoxication level of animal. On the other hand, to compensate the development of alcohol tolerance, it is necessary to gradually increase alcohol concentration in the atmosphere (ACA). A protocol was developed to study the withdrawal syndrome intensity (WSI) in rats, based on observations of behavioral alterations. Five successive grades were described and noted in relation to more and more serious WSI. Male rats were intoxicated in various protocols in which the length of alcohol exposure (7-35 days) and the rate of increase in ACA (0.22-0.70 mg/l/day) were changed. In the condition of constant increases of ACA (0.33 mg/l/day in average), WSI varied in relation to the length to alcohol exposure. When A was kept constant, the higher the ACA increase rate was, the higher the WSI was. These results are discussed with regard to patterns of consumption of alcoholic beverages by man.