Effects of ethanol administration on corticosterone levels in adolescent and adult rats

Corticosterone values at each age, sex, dose, and time point. Male: (A) saline; (B) 0.5g/kg ethanol; (C) 1.5g/kg ethanol. Female: (D) saline; (E) 0.5g/kg ethanol; (F) 1.5g/kg ethanol. * Indicates a significant difference from the comparable saline group. + Indicates a significant age difference within a given sex, dose, and time point. Each bar represents a group size of six to eight animals.

BECs at each age, sex, dose, and time point. Male: (A) 0.5g/kg ethanol; (B) 1.5g/kg ethanol. Female: (C) 0.5g/kg ethanol; (D) 1.5g/kg ethanol. ∆ Indicates significantly higher BECs than opposite sex counterparts at the same postinjection time interval collapsed across age. Each bar represents a group of seven to eight animals. BEC=blood ethanol concentration.

Ratio of CORT/BEC after 1.5g/kg ethanol administration for each age and sex across different time points. (A) Male; (B) female. The 180-min time point was excluded to avoid values of zero in the ratio. ∆ Indicates that adult females had greater ratios than adult males regardless of the time point. + Indicates that adults had a greater ratio than adolescents at 90min when collapsed across sex. Dotted line indicates that, when collapsed across age, females had a greater ratio than males at that time point. Each bar represents a group size of seven to eight animals. CORT=corticosterone, BEC=blood ethanol concentration.