Ethanol can also be delivered directly to the stomach using an intubation method (73, 74, 78–80, 93, 94). Typically, a syringe is attached to a curved steel gavage needle, or plastic tubing, that is inserted down the esophagus to the entrance to the stomach (Figure 1). This method allows ethanol to be administered to pregnant females (ethanol is usually diluted in water or saline) and to neonatal pups (ethanol is usually diluted in a nutritional formula). An isocaloric control liquid (such as maltose dextrin or sucrose) can also be administered by gavage to control for the stress and nutritional effects of this procedure. This method is commonly used in rodents including rats (74, 78–81, 95–98) and guinea pigs (99–103), as well as primates (104–107). The dose of ethanol typically ranges between 2 and 6 g ethanol/kg/day; but produces BACs generally greater than 200 mg/dl. Often the daily dose of ethanol is divided into two administrations, given 4–8 h apart, creating two lower peak BACs in a 24 h period (42). A major advantage to this method of administration is the
