In humans, fetal ethanol exposure is highly predictive of adolescent ethanol use and abuse. Prior work in our labs indicated that fetal ethanol exposure results in stimulus-induced chemosensory plasticity in the taste and olfactory systems of adolescent rats. In particular, we found that increased ethanol acceptability could be attributed, in part, to an attenuated aversion to ethanol's aversiv...

We model a municipal solid waste (MSW)-to-ethanol facility that employs dilute acid hydrolysis and gravity pressure vessel technology and estimate life cycle energy use and air emissions. We compare our results, assuming the ethanol is utilized as E85 (blended with 15% gasoline) in a light-duty vehicle, with extant life cycle assessments of gasoline, corn-ethanol, and energy crop-cellulosic-eth...

Although genetic background alters responses to ethanol, there has not yet been a methodical quantification of differences in ethanol-related behaviors between inbred and hybrid mice commonly used in gene-targeting studies. Here, we compared C57BL/6NTac × 129S6/SvEvTac F1 hybrid mice (B6129S6) with C57BL/6NTac inbred mice (B6NT), and C57BL/6J × 129X1/SvJ (B6129X1) and C57BL/6J × 129S4/SvJae F1 ...

A well established body of work indicates a crucial role for corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) in neurobiological responses associated with excessive dependence-like ethanol drinking in ethanol-vapor-exposed rodents. Recent evidence demonstrates a role for CRF in the modulation of binge-like ethanol consumption by nondependent mice, a behavior that can precede ethanol dependence. The CRF cir...

This study examined the relationship between saccharin drinking, open field behaviour and ethanol drinking in Wistar rats. Correlational analysis revealed that both absolute saccharin drinking and an increase in total fluid intake in the presence of saccharin positively correlated with the initial acceptance of increasing ethanol concentrations in a two-bottle choice situation (2-8% v/v ethanol...

The effect of ethanol on the metabolism of S-warfarin and diclofenac by recombinant cytochrome P450 2C9.1 microsomes (CYP2C9.1) was studied. The 7-hydroxylation metabolism of S-warfarin was inhibited by as low as 0.1 vol% (17 mM) ethanol. Ethanol decreased the V(max)/K(m) and V(max) values of S-warfarin metabolism in a concentration-dependent manner, but the K(m) value was unchanged by ethanol....

The opiate antagonist naltrexone suppresses ethanol-reinforced behavior in animals and decreases ethanol intake in humans. However, the mechanisms underlying these actions are not well understood. Experiments were designed to test the hypothesis that naltrexone attenuates the rewarding properties of ethanol by interfering with ethanol-induced stimulation of dopamine activity in the nucleus accu...

This study was conducted to examine whether amount and/or pattern (intermittent or continuous) of chronic ethanol exposure subsequently alters sensitivity to the discriminative stimulus effects of ethanol. Adult male C57BL/6J mice were trained to discriminate between 1.5 g/kg ethanol and saline in a two-lever food-reinforced operant procedure. Once ethanol discrimination was successfully acquir...

Hepatocytes from ethanol-fed animals, isolated from either whole liver or the periportal or perivenous regions of the lobule, exhibited an ethanol-related decrease in energy state only when they were oxygen deficient. This was accompanied by an ethanol-related decrease in hepatocyte viability. Both periportal and perivenous hepatocytes from ethanol-fed rats demonstrated increased respiration. T...

Ethanol producing bacteria are useful in industrial production of biofuel. There are interesting for screening of active bacteria from natural resources and introduce to biofuel industries. The present study aims to isolation of ethanol producing bacteria with characterization, optimization, and evaluation of their ethanol productivity. Samples from various fruits, plant saps and soils were scr...