Significance Teenagers, especially girls, often engage in binge drinking but discontinue this practice as young adults. Possible long term consequences are not known. This project indicates that rhesus monkeys could provide a valuable animal model for studying binge drinking in adolescence. Objectives This was a pilot project. The objectives were to determine whether amounts of alcohol equivalent to binge drinking were tolerated by adolescent rhesus monkeys and whether the alcohol influenced the production of luteinizing hormone in response to exogenous estrogen, as it does in adult humans. Luteinizing hormone is an important mediator of sexual maturation during adolescence. Results Gavage delivery of 2.5 g/kg ethanol to four adolescent female rhesus monkeys did not lead to hypotension, hypoglycemia or hypothermia, 3 anticipated consequences of alcohol overdose. Blood alcohol levels rose to levels typical of intoxication in humans and remained elevated approximately 2 hours. One of the 4 monkeys demonstrated a reduced level of consciousness about 30 min after dosing. Background plasma concentrations of luteinizing hormone were found to be too low and variable to allow demonstration of estrogen stimulation of luteinizing hormone. Future Directions This data has been included in a proposal submitted to NIH in March 1998 to study the effects of binge drinking on adolescent development using the rhesus monkey animal model. KEYWORDS alcohol, adolescence, puberty, drinking, sexual maturation, rhesus monkeys
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