Sweet flavorants enhance palatability and intake of alcohol in adolescent humans. We asked whether sweet flavorants have similar effects in adolescent rats. The inherent flavor of ethanol in adolescent rats is thought to consist of an aversive odor, bitter/sweet taste, and burning sensation. In Experiment 1, we compared ingestive responses of adolescent rats to 10% ethanol solutions with or without added flavorants using brief-access lick tests. We used 4 flavorants, which contained mixtures of saccharin and sucrose or saccharin, sucrose, and maltodextrin. The rats approached (and initiated licking from) the flavored ethanol solutions more quickly than they did unflavored ethanol, indicating that the flavorants attenuated the aversive odor of ethanol. The rats also licked at higher rates for the flavored than unflavored ethanol solutions, indicating that the flavorants increased the naso-oral acceptability of ethanol. In Experiment 2, we offered rats chow, water, and a flavored or unflavored ethanol solution every other day for 8 days. The rats consistently consumed substantially more of the flavored ethanol solutions than unflavored ethanol across the 8 days. When we switched the rats from the flavored to unflavored ethanol for 3 days, daily intake of ethanol plummeted. We conclude that sweet and sweet/maltodextrin flavorants promote high daily intake of ethanol in adolescent rats (i.e., 6–10 g/kg) and that they do so in large part by improving the naso-oral sensory attributes of ethanol.

中文翻译：

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甜味剂和麦芽糊精的混合物增强了青春期大鼠的风味和酒精摄入量。

甜味调味剂可增强青少年人类的适口性和酒精摄入量。我们询问甜味调味剂是否对青春期大鼠有类似作用。乙醇在青春期大鼠中的固有味道被认为包括令人厌恶的气味、苦/甜的味道和灼烧感。在实验 1 中，我们使用简短的舔食测试比较了青春期大鼠对添加或不添加食用香料的 10% 乙醇溶液的摄取反应。我们使用了 4 种食用香料，它们包含糖精和蔗糖或糖精、蔗糖和麦芽糊精的混合物。大鼠接近（并开始舔）有味道的乙醇溶液比它们比无味道的乙醇更快，这表明食用香料减弱了乙醇的厌恶气味。老鼠舔有味道的乙醇溶液的速度也比没有味道的乙醇溶液高，表明食用香料增加了乙醇的鼻口腔可接受性。在实验 2 中，我们每隔一天提供老鼠饲料、水和调味或无味的乙醇溶液，持续 8 天。在 8 天内，大鼠始终比未调味的乙醇消耗更多的调味乙醇溶液。当我们将老鼠从调味乙醇换成无味乙醇 3 天后，每天的乙醇摄入量急剧下降。我们得出的结论是，甜味剂和甜味剂/麦芽糊精调味剂促进了青春期大鼠的每日高乙醇摄入量（即 6-10 g/kg），并且它们在很大程度上是通过改善乙醇的鼻-口感官特性来实现的。在 8 天内，大鼠始终比未调味的乙醇消耗更多的调味乙醇溶液。当我们将老鼠从调味乙醇换成无味乙醇 3 天后，每天的乙醇摄入量急剧下降。我们得出的结论是，甜味剂和甜味剂/麦芽糊精调味剂促进了青春期大鼠的每日高乙醇摄入量（即 6-10 g/kg），并且它们在很大程度上是通过改善乙醇的鼻-口感官特性来实现的。在 8 天内，大鼠始终比未调味的乙醇消耗更多的调味乙醇溶液。当我们将老鼠从调味乙醇换成无味乙醇 3 天后，每天的乙醇摄入量急剧下降。我们得出的结论是，甜味剂和甜味剂/麦芽糊精调味剂促进了青春期大鼠的每日高乙醇摄入量（即 6-10 g/kg），并且它们在很大程度上是通过改善乙醇的鼻-口感官特性来实现的。