contrast, adult female rats consume significantly more ethanol than adolescent female rats at lower sweetened ethanol concentrations (5% and 10%). Consistent with other work, we have observed increased voluntary sweetened ethanol intake in females as compared to males, when voluntary sweetened ethanol intake was equated for body weight. These data highlight the importance of examining sex differences when conducting developmental experiments. It appears early during adolescence there are no differences in voluntary sweetened ethanol consumption (Maldonado and Kirstein, unpublished data), however sex differences in voluntary ethanol consumption are observed in adulthood (Almeida et al., 1998; Blanchard et al., 1993; Juarez and Barrios de Tomasi, 1999; Lancaster et al., 1996). Additionally, across development from adolescence into young adulthood, there appears to be a natural decrease in voluntary ethanol consumption (Vetter et al., 2007). Given that sex differences emerge in adulthood, early exposure to ethanol during adolescence could alter the normal pattern of ethanol consumption in adulthood.
