DIET AND DIURETICS IN THE REDUCTION OF VOLUNTARY ALCOHOL DRINKING IN RATS

Three rats were trained and given extensive experience withan operant-conditioning model of alcohol self-administrationwhich produces pharmacologically significant drug intake. Inthis model, lever presses on a fixed ratio (FR) schedule ofreinforcement allowed the animal brief access to an 8% (w/v)alcohol solution. Drug intake was then assessed when the animalswere given a low-sodium diet and a low-sodium diet in combinationwith injections of the salt-losing diuretic furosemide (Lasix).In all cases, the low-sodium diet/furosemide treatment produceda substantial reduction in drug self-administration withoutchanging water self-administration. In one case, introducingfurosemide into the home-cage drinking water without a changeof diet also brought about a decrease in alcohol self-administration.The low-sodium diet alone was ineffective in this regard. Thesefindings corroborate earlier work using this form of treatmentand are discussed in terms of the possible functional mode(s)of action of the treatment. The viability of this treatmentfor human drug-taking is also considered.