Abstract
Studies involving both animals and humans strongly suggest that alcoholism is, in part, genetically determined. One approach to studying this genetic component is to determine whether rats, genetically selected to prefer (P line) or avoid (NP line) alcohol, show differences in those physiological systems which modulate alcohol intake. It has previously been shown that alcohol intake in randomly bred stock rats is sensitive to and inversely related to manipulations which alter activity in the renin-angiotensin (R-A) system. In the present report the basal level of activity in the R-A systems of the P and NP rats as measured by plasma renin activity (PRA) was first assessed following which continuous access to alcohol (10% v/v) and water was offered for a period of five days. PRA was found to be inversely related to the amount of alcohol that was consumed. The P rats drank significantly larger amounts of alcohol than the NP rats who basically avoided the drug. The P rats had a significantly lower PRA than the NP rats. It is suggested that the genetic selection that favored different levels of alcohol consumption in the P and NP rats may have brought about this effect through differences in the activity of the renin-angiotensin systems in the two lines.
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