Experiment 3 determined the effect of a lipid-lowering drug on ethanol intake. Rats (n = 18) were trained to consume 7% ethanol. Once they had attained a weight of at least 300 g, they were mock-gavaged to acclimate them to the procedure. Following the acclimation, they were tested in a counter-balanced, within-subject design during 2 days, wherein half of the group received gemfibrozil (50 mg/kg i.g.) on one day and vehicle (Tween 20, Sigma-Aldrich Co., St. Louis, MO) on the next day, and vice versa for the other half. Starting 2 h into the dark cycle, food was removed from the home cage, and rats were gavaged with gemfibrozil or vehicle. Two hours later, ethanol and chow were returned to the cage and were measured for 4 h. Tail vein blood was drawn for measurement of TG levels both before and 2 h after gavage, prior to ethanol access.
