binge alcohol and ibandronate-treated (AI4). The 4-week binge alcohol group is also referred to in the text as chronic binge alcohol-treated rats. Animals were housed in pairs, with paired animals assigned to the same treatment group. Animals were weighed prior to the initiation of treatment and weekly throughout the study period. Animals were allowed free access to both food and water throught the study. Ibandronate was administered as a single intraperitoneal (ip) dose of 120 μg, 1 day prior to the start of saline or binge alcohol treatments (Bauss et al., 2002, 2004). Alcohol administration was by a single daily ip injection of a 20% (vol./vol.) ethanol/saline solution at a dose of 3 g/kg. This dose was chosen to achieve peak BALs of approximately 300 mg/dl (Nation et al., 1993). Control animals were given an ip injection of an equal volume of sterile isotonic saline at the time of alcohol group injections. Alcohol or saline injections were given starting at 9:00 AM, 3 d/wk. No ip injections were given during the remaining 4 days each week. Twenty-four hours after their last saline or alcohol injection, rats were rendered unconscious by CO2 inhalation and killed by decapitation. Bone samples (lumbar vertebrae)
