Voluntary alcohol consumption in rats: Relationships to defensive burying and stress gastric erosions

Rats with short latency to initiate burying in the defensive burying test later showed lower alcohol consumption in an ethanol preference test than animals with medium and long latencies. These short-latency, or ''active'' animals also had a slight tendency to develop more ulceration than the ''passive'' animals. In addition, there was a negative correlation between voluntary alcohol consumption and the amount of stress-induced stomach ulcers. Many researchers view active burying behaviour as an index of anxiety. Our results suggest the opposite: that passivity, rather than active burying, may be an index of anxiety and that such passive animals subsequently ingest more ethanol. The tendency of active animals to develop more ulcers than passive animals is in contradiction to earlier studies. Our interpretation is that the long-latency animals experience more fear in the defensive burying test, with increased alcohol consumption as a result, This increase in alcohol consumption gives a cumulative cytoprotective effect against stomach ulcers.