Saccharin preferences in food deprived aging rats are altered as a function of perinatal drug exposure

Abstract The purpose of this long-term experiment was to determine if perinatal exposure to CNS activating drugs resulted in early and/or altered onset of aging, as measured by changes in preference for preferred concentrations of saccharin solutions. Seventy-nine primiparous Sprague-Dawley rats received twice daily subcutaneous injections of either 3.0 mg/kg or pure nicotine, 5.0 mg/kg of methamphetamine HCL, 5.0 mg/kg of saline vehicle, or no injections during the 21 day gestational period and during days 3–21 of the nursing period. Twelve male offspring were randomly selected from each treatment condition, and at six months of age, they were presented with a choice of 0.20, 0.10, 0.05, 0.025, 0.01, and 0.005% of saccharin in a tap water solution and plain tap water at three month intervals. Each concentration was paired with water and presented for a 48 hr period. Eight sessions were analyzed, which spanned the ages of 15 36 months. Multivariate analyses revealed that: (1) The preference for individual saccharin concentrations across time differed as a result of maternal treatment. Differences were primarily due to the drug treatments and not to injection, (2) The pattern of saccharin preference changed over time as a function of maternal treatment but the overall level of saccharin consumption was not affected. These shifts were due to the drug treatments, not injection per se, (3) The total amount of saccharin solution consumed over time did not differ significantly among treatments, (4) The total amount of fluid consumed over the mature lifespan (saccharin solution plus water) decreased for all rats irrespective of maternal treatment. Other differences over time in total fluid consumption paralleled the saccharin index measures described above. Thus, perinatal treatment had a lasting effect upon preference for nonnutritive sweet solutions. The significance of this for aging organisms is discussed.