Data from: Prenatal alcohol exposure increases postnatal acceptability of nicotine odor and taste in adolescent rats

Human studies indicate that alcohol exposure during gestation not only
increases the chance for later alcohol abuse, but also nicotine
dependence. The flavor attributes of both alcohol and nicotine can be
important determinants of their initial acceptance and they both share the
component chemosensory qualities of an aversive odor, bitter taste and
oral irritation. There is a growing body of evidence demonstrating
epigenetic chemosensory mechanisms through which fetal alcohol exposure
increases adolescent alcohol acceptance, in part, by decreasing the
aversion to alcohol's bitter and oral irritation qualities, as well
as its odor. Given that alcohol and nicotine have noteworthy chemosensory
qualities in common, we investigated whether fetal exposure to alcohol
increased the acceptability of nicotine's odor and taste in
adolescent rats. Study rats were alcohol-exposed during fetal development
via the dams' liquid diet. Control animals received ad lib access to
an iso-caloric, iso-nutritive diet throughout gestation. Odorant-induced
innate behavioral responses to nicotine odor (Experiment 1) or
orosensory-mediated responses to nicotine solutions (Experiment 2) were
obtained, using whole-body plethysmography and brief access lick tests,
respectively. Compared to controls, rats exposed to fetal alcohol showed
an enhanced nicotine odor response that was paralleled by increased oral
acceptability of nicotine. Given the common aversive component qualities
imbued in the flavor profiles of both drugs, our findings demonstrate that
like postnatal alcohol avidity, fetal alcohol exposure also influences
nicotine acceptance, at a minimum, by decreasing the aversion of both its
smell and taste. Moreover, they highlight potential chemosensory-based
mechanism(s) by which fetal alcohol exposure increases the later initial
risk for nicotine use, thereby contributing to the co-morbid expression
with enhanced alcohol avidity. Where common chemosensory mechanisms are at
play, our results suggest broader implications related to the consequence
of fetal exposure with one substance of abuse and initial acceptability of
others.