Abstract

Male weanling rats were placed on a nutritionally adequate casein diet and randomly assigned to one of eight groups. The first four groups were force fed alcohol for 22 days prior to the experimental phase of the study, while the last four groups had access to water only. Upon commencing the experimental phase each group was given one of the following diets: continuation of the casein diet; Cheddar; Limburger; or Roquefort cheese diets, along with the choice of alcohol and/or water. The particular cheeses were chosen for their ability to raise brain serotonin levels (62) . Alcohol consumption was measured daily among all groups.

A general linear hypothesis was used to compare serotonin levels with diet, drinking status, animal, and alcohol consumption per day. Of the variables considered in the analysis, the most important variable in terms of accounting for variability in serotonin levels was diet, i.e. whether the animal was given access to a casein or cheese diet, however, it failed to reach significance (p=.08). Findings from this study suggest that serotonin levels are the result of an interaction between type of diet and total alcohol consumption, i.e., whether the animal drank alcohol throughout the entire course of the experiment, or merely had access to it during the experimental phase.

Department

Nutrition

School

Graduate School

First Advisor

Kenneth I. Burke

Second Advisor

Ella Haddad

Third Advisor

James W. Blankenship

Fourth Advisor

Winston Craig

Fifth Advisor

Grenith J. Zimmerman

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Degree Level

M.S.

Year Degree Awarded

1980

Date (Title Page)

4-1980

Language

English

Library of Congress/MESH Subject Headings

Cheese; Serotonin; Alcohol Drinking.

Type

Thesis

Page Count

vii; 54

Digital Format

PDF

Digital Publisher

Loma Linda University Libraries

Usage Rights

This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has granted Loma Linda University a limited, non-exclusive right to make this publication available to the public. The author retains all other copyrights.

Collection

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Collection Website

http://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/etd/

Repository

Loma Linda University. Del E. Webb Memorial Library. University Archives

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