Genetic Analysis of Low-Dose Ethanol-Induced Activation (LDA) in Inbred Long Sleep (ILS) and Inbred Short Sleep (ISS) Mice

Ethanol-induced activation (LDA) is a measure of alcohol action on behavior and a predictor of future human alcoholism. Previous studies have shown that the long sleep (LS) and short sleep (SS) selected lines of mice differ in LDA and that two to five genes specify this phenotypic difference. The current study examines the genetic components of LDA in the ILS and ISS mice that are inbred derivatives of LS and SS and examines the effects of inbreeding on LDA. We provide estimates of heritability and number of loci that are consistent with those found in previous studies of the LS and SS. We conclude that LDA is a polygenic trait, specified by two to six loci, which have not been affected by inbreeding or genetic drift in the ILS and ISS populations.