The Effect of Environmental Enrichment on Nicotine-Primed Ethanol Consumption in Adolescent Female Rats

Authors: Emma Miraglia, Joshuah Peck, Luke Pelchar, Joseph DeFeo

SUNY Campus: SUNY Cortland

Presentation Type: Poster

Location: UU 108

Presentation #: 77

Timeslot: Session D 3:00-4:00 PM

Abstract: Alcohol use among adolescent females has significantly increased in the United States with young females drinking alcohol at the same rate as young males. Along with this alarming trend, prenatal nicotine exposure can lead females to be more vulnerable to developing an alcohol use disorder (AUD) in adolescence. Environmental Enrichment (EE) is proposed as a potentially effective treatment strategy in deterring alcohol consumption, even if the subjects (adolescent female rats) have been primed prenatally with nicotine. We examined if the implementation of EE after nicotine primed (administered nicotine injections, 0.06 mg/kg) ethanol self-administration training will significantly reduce continued ethanol consumption (abstinence) in adolescent female rats. We found that EE significantly reduced ethanol consumption for both Pre-Nicotine and Non Pre-Nicotine exposed adolescent female rats compared to controls. The results suggest that enriched life conditions are important in facilitating adolescent female abstinence in nicotine and alcohol co-substance abuse.