Grant: Doctoral Award - Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarships

Alcohol and tobacco are often taken together and have adverse effects on health and society. Epidemiological studies have shown that tobacco use initiates during adolescence and results in greater alcohol consumption in adulthood, relative to tobacco use initiated during adulthood. Individuals may come to associate environmental cues, such as the sight of a glass of wine, with alcohol consumption. Exposure to alcohol-related cues can increase craving, promote alcohol consumption, and induce relapse in abstinent alcoholics. Consequently, these cues are believed to have acquired motivational properties. Studies to date have yet to investigate whether individuals who initiate smoking during adolescence are more vulnerable to the effects of alcohol-related cues. Using animal models, the proposed study will investigate the interaction between exposure during adolescence to nicotine, the main addictive component in tobacco products, and the motivational properties of ethanol-related cues. Importantly, this study will examine sex differences, as women may be more vulnerable to alcohol-related cues than men. Adolescent and adult, male and female rats will self-administer nicotine and saline (in separate experiments) during adolescence. Once all rats have reached adulthood, they will learn to associate a sensory cue, such as a light, with ethanol delivery. Next, they will respond on a lever that will result in presentations of the cue but no ethanol will be delivered. The pattern of lever-responding will provide an indication of the motivational properties of the ethanol-paired cue. The effects of varenicline and lorcaserin, two drugs that reduce ethanol consumption in animal models, on the motivational properties of the ethanol-paired cue will be examined. Results from this study will contribute to a better understanding of how personal history (i.e. tobacco smoking during adolescence) can influence treatment outcomes for alcohol dependence.