Sensitization and Tolerance Following Repeated Exposure to Caffeine and Alcohol in Mice.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Energy drinks are popular mixers with alcohol. While energy drinks contain many ingredients, caffeine is an important pharmacologically active component and is generally present in larger amounts than in other caffeinated beverages. In these studies, we investigated the hypothesis that caffeine would influence the effects of alcohol (ethanol [EtOH]) on conditioned taste aversion (CTA), ataxia, and locomotor activity (LA) after repeated exposure.

Methods

Four groups of mice were exposed by oral gavage twice daily to vehicle, EtOH (4 g/kg), caffeine (15 mg/kg), or the EtOH/caffeine combination. CTA to saccharin and ataxia in the parallel rod task was evaluated after 8 or 16 gavages, respectively, using EtOH (1 to 3 g/kg) or EtOH/caffeine (3 mg/kg + 2 g/kg) challenge

SUBMITTER: May CE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4515142 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature