Together with published studies (see Introduction), the results of Experiment 2 suggest that dietary fat stimulates the consumption of ethanol and that circulating TG may be involved in this phenomenon. To examine this idea further, the TG-lowering drug gemfibrozil was tested to determine whether an acute reduction in TG can produce a decrease in ethanol intake. Rats consuming at least 2.5 g/kg of 7% ethanol each day were tested in this experiment. Whereas the vehicle (Tween) had no effect on TG levels 2 h after administration, gemfibrozil (50 mg/kg i.g.) produced a significant decrease in circulating TG levels, compared to both pre-drug levels (-28%, p < 0.05) and to levels after the vehicle (Fig. 3A). Subsequent to this decline in TG, gemfibrozil also reduced intake of ethanol, with a statistically significant effect (-22%, p < 0.05) during the first hour of daily access, a smaller, insignificant effect (-14%, ns) during the second hour, and a significant reduction again during the fourth hour (-18%, p < 0.01) (Fig. 3B). In contrast to these changes in TG and ethanol intake, gemfibrozil had
