Ethanol self-administration

The study of the role of DA in ethanol self-administration is affected by problems not dissimilar from those encountered with other drugs of abuse except that, in contrast to the fair consistency in one direction or in the other among studies on psychostimulants and opiates, much disagreement is registered in the case of ethanol. 

An additional problem with these studies might result from the fact that ethanol preference over water, although utilized for investigating the reinforcing properties of ethanol, may not be a correlate of such properties (George, 1990 Cunningham et ah, 1992). 

From these studies it appears that in rats with a high ethanol intake obtained by selective breeding or by the sweet-fading techniques and on a limited access paradigm of operant ethanol self-administration, neuroleptics consistently reduce responding for ethanol. This effect seems specific for ethanol, since responding for water was unimpaired. 

The interpretation of the mechanism of the influence of neuroleptics on ethanol reinforcement and the appraisal of the precise role of DA is complicated by the fact that DA receptor agonists either direct (e.g. bromocriptine) or indirect (e.g. amphetamine), similarly to neuroleptics, reduce ethanol drinking (Samson et al., 1993). 

In conclusion, DA might play a role in ethanol reinforcement although the specificity of this role is unclear. 

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Studies showing a selective delta antagonist-induced decrease in ethanol self-administration ... 

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