Abstract
Peer influences are critical in the decrease of alcohol (ethanol) abuse and maintenance of abstinence. We previously developed an animal model of inhibitory peer influences on ethanol drinking using prairie voles and here sought to understand whether this influential behavior was due to specific changes in drinking patterns and to variation in a microsatellite sequence in the regulatory region of the vasopressin receptor 1a gene (avpr1a). Adult prairie voles’ drinking patterns were monitored in a lickometer apparatus that recorded each lick a subject exhibited during continuous access to water and 10% ethanol during periods of isolation, pair housing of high and low drinkers, and subsequent isolation. Analysis of fluid consumption confirmed previous results that high drinkers typically decrease ethanol intake when paired with low drinkers, but that a subset of voles do not decrease. Analysis of bout structure revealed differences in the number of ethanol drinking bouts in the subpopulations of high drinkers when paired with low drinkers. Lickometer drinking patterns analyzed by visual and by cross-correlation analyses demonstrated that pair housing did not increase the rate of subjects drinking in bouts occurring at the same time. The length of the avpr1a microsatellite did not predict susceptibility to peer influence or any other drinking behaviors. In summary, subpopulations of high drinkers were identified, by fluid intake and number of drinking bouts, which did or did not lower their ethanol intake when paired with a low drinking peer, and these subpopulations should be explored for testing the efficacy of treatments to decrease ethanol use in groups that are likely to be responsive to different types of therapy.
Highlights
Excessive alcohol use in the United States contributes to over 80,000 deaths per year
High drinkers were paired with low drinkers, leading to a total of 32 pairs that completed the experiment, while medium drinkers did not continue past the initial isolation phase
Planned Bonferroni post-tests revealed that high drinkers decreased their ethanol preference from baseline to paired housing and isolation 2 (t = 3.93 and 3.26, respectively; df = 15; p < 0.001), as well as the intake level (t = 2.76 and 2.44, respectively; df = 15; p < 0.05), while low drinkers did not significantly change (Figure 2)
Summary
Excessive alcohol (ethanol) use in the United States contributes to over 80,000 deaths per year (apps.nccd.cdc.gov/DACH_ARDI). We have shown that, depending on the experimental conditions, housing with siblings or peers can either facilitate (Anacker et al, 2011a) or inhibit ethanol drinking in these animals (Anacker et al, 2011b). Such influence on ethanol drinking is specific to same-sex peers, and not male–female pairs (Hostetler et al, 2012)
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