Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats have been used extensively to study the effects of nicotine (Caggiula et al., 2002; Donny et al., 1995; Levin and Simon, 1998; Malin et al., 1992; Rollema et al., 2007; Shoaib et al., 1997; Stolerman et al., 1973), but have rarely been used to study the effects of ethanol. Unlike Long-Evans and Wistar rats which display high voluntary, oral ethanol consumption in the two-bottle choice and operant self-administration settings, SD rats achieve low to moderate intake levels (Khanna et al., 1990; Linseman, 1987; Melchior and Myers, 1976). Several investigators have examined the effects of involuntary ethanol exposure on the strain with the use of oral intubation (Cagetti et al., 2003; Kokka t al., 1993), i.p. injections (Ellis, 1966), or vapor inhalation (Karanian et al., 1986; Rogers et al., 1979). However, the full potential of SD rats in studies examining voluntary ethanol consumption has yet to be realized.
