Mouse Strain Differences in Preference for Various Concentrations of Alcohol

Abstract

Over a 3-week period, C57BL/ Crgl, C3H/Crgl/2, BALB/cCrgl, and A/Crgl/3 mice were offered simultaneous ad lib. choices of water or six alcohol solutions ranging in strength from approximately 2.5 per cent to approximately 15 per cent. Six animals of each strain and each sex were tested, in cages containing three animals of same sex and strain. The fluids were presented in inverted 25-ml. graduated cylinders with standard drinking tips extending through the wire cage tops, and the cylinder positions were shifted systematically. Half the animals of each strain and sex were 353 days and half 360 days old at the beginning of testing. The C57BL strain showed highest preference for the 12.5-per-cent solution and a progressive increase over the 3 weeks in proportional amount of alcohol consumed. The C3H/2 strain showed a progressive shift in preference from lower concentrations during the first 2 weeks to a pronounced peak preference for 10-per-cent alcohol during the third week. The BALB/c and A/3 strains tended to avoid all concentrations of alcohol, preferring water. This preference for water, initially pronounced, tended to increase during the study. Variance analysis indicated that the highly significant differences were attributable almost entirely to strain. Strain differences in change in alcohol consumption from the first to the third week were related to initial strain differences in preference. The results suggest that alcohol preference of mice is influenced by a multiple-allele or a multiple-gene system or both. The practicality of using genetic control to provide highly stable baselines of alcohol preference, against which to assess the effects of manipulating specific variables, is demonstrated.