Background: The availability of tobacco products is associated with the likelihood that adolescents will begin using tobacco. Yet the relationship between nicotine availability and voluntary consumption has not been tested experimentally in developing rats.
Method: The impact of environmental availability on adolescent female rats' initial reaction to and continued ingestion of a novel solution (nicotine or control) was compared using a standard 2-bottle free-choice method and a multiple-bottle method.
Results: Manipulating the ratio of bottles containing novel solution to water directly influenced the amount of both nicotine and control solutions consumed. Although subtle differences emerged in intake patterns with prolonged exposure, overall intake patterns were remarkably similar for nicotine and control solutions.
Conclusion: The intake of oral nicotine was directly influenced by the availability of nicotine solution relative to water. The results indicate that simply providing the right environment is sufficient, and perhaps necessary, to increase rats' voluntary consumption of a nicotine solution without relying on deprivation or sweetening of the solution. That overall intake patterns were comparable for nicotine and control solutions suggests that this may be a general principle of rodent behavior rather than an effect specific to nicotine.