Administration of OXT also has been shown to reduce alcohol preference and intake in a variety of voluntary drinking models in rats (Bowen et al., 2011, McGregor and Bowen, 2012) and mice (King et al., 2017, Peters et al., 2013). Specifically, pretreatment with OXT decreased binge-like alcohol consumption in a dose-related fashion, as well as reduced level responding and alcohol intake at doses that did not alter self-administration of a natural reward (sucrose) in mice (Koob, 2003). McGregor and Bowen (2012) found that a single dose of systemically administered OXT (1 mg/kg) produced a long-lasting reduction in preference for an alcohol-containing solution compared with a nonalcoholic sweet solution. Additionally, treatment with OXT for 2 weeks prior to the induction of a two-bottle free-choice drinking paradigm resulted in lower alcohol preference in OXT-treated rats compared to controls. MacFadyen et al. (2016) reported that systemic administration of a lower dose range of OXT (0.1–0.5 mg/kg) reduced operant alcohol self-administration in rats. Peripheral OXT treatment in a higher dose range (1–10 mg/kg) reduced alcohol consumption in male and female prairie voles that had
