Excessive alcohol (ethanol) consumption negatively impacts social, emotional, as well as cognitive function and well-being. Thus, identifying behavioral and/or biological predictors of excessive ethanol consumption is important for developing prevention and treatment strategies against alcohol use disorders (AUDs). Sex differences in alcohol consumption patterns are observed in humans, primates, and rodents. Selectively bred high alcohol-drinking rat lines, such as the "HAD-1" lines are recognized animal models of alcoholism. The present work examined sex differences in alcohol consumption, object recognition, and exploratory behavior in male and female HAD-1 rats. Naïve male and female HAD-1 rats were tested in an object recognition test (ORT) prior to a chronic 24 h intermittent ethanol access procedure for five weeks. Object recognition parameters measured included exploratory behavior, object investigation, and time spent near objects. During the initial training trial, rearing, active object investigation and amount of time spent in the object-containing section was significantly greater in female HAD-1 rats compared to their male counterparts. During the subsequent testing trial, time spent in the object-containing section was greater in female, compared to male, rats; but active object investigation and rearing did not statistically differ between females and males. In addition, female HAD-1 rats consumed significantly more ethanol than their male counterparts, replicating previous findings. Moreover, across all animals there was a significant positive correlation between exploratory behavior in ORT and ethanol consumption level. These results indicate there are significant sex differences in cognitive performance and alcohol consumption in HAD-1 rats, which suggests neurobiological differences as well.

中文翻译：

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高酒精饮酒 (HAD-1) 大鼠认知能力和饮酒量的性别差异。

过量饮酒（乙醇）会对社交、情绪以及认知功能和幸福感产生负面影响。因此，确定过量饮酒的行为和/或生物学预测因素对于制定针对酒精使用障碍 (AUDs) 的预防和治疗策略非常重要。在人类、灵长类动物和啮齿动物中观察到酒精消费模式的性别差异。选择性繁殖的高饮酒大鼠品系，例如“HAD-1”品系，是公认的酒精中毒动物模型。目前的工作检查了雄性和雌性 HAD-1 大鼠在饮酒、物体识别和探索行为方面的性别差异。在进行为期 5 周的 24 小时慢性间歇乙醇获取程序之前，在对象识别测试 (ORT) 中对幼稚的雄性和雌性 HAD-1 大鼠进行了测试。测量的对象识别参数包括探索行为、对象调查和在对象附近花费的时间。在最初的训练试验中，与雄性大鼠相比，雌性 HAD-1 大鼠的饲养、活动物体调查和在物体容纳部分花费的时间明显更长。在随后的测试试验中，与雄性大鼠相比，雌性大鼠在物体容纳部分花费的时间更长；但雌性和雄性之间在活动对象调查和饲养方面没有统计学差异。此外，雌性 HAD-1 大鼠消耗的乙醇明显多于雄性大鼠，重复了之前的发现。此外，在所有动物中，ORT 的探索行为与乙醇消耗水平之间存在显着的正相关。