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daidzin, a
constituent of an ancient Chinese herbal
treatment for alcoholism, decreased home-cage
ethanol consumption in laboratory Syrian golden
hamsters. The present study tested the
generality of daidzin's antidipsotropic effects.
Rats served as subjects in a two-lever choice
procedure. At one lever, responses earned 10%
ethanol, flavored with saccharin. At the other
lever, responses earned an isocaloric starch
solution. Daidzin decreased both ethanol and
starch consumption, but the decreases in ethanol
intake were larger. Changes in consumption were
dose dependent, and differences in ethanol and
food consumption increased slightly (but
significantly) as dose increased. Daidzin
produced a similar pattern of decreases in lever
pressing. In baseline, there was an
approximately equal distribution of responses
between the two levers; at the highest daidzin
dose, the relative number of responses at the
ethanol lever decreased to 30%. These results
replicate and extend earlier findings, and they
encourage further research on daidzin's capacity
to decrease ethanol consumption. |