Dose-Specific Effects of Alcohol on the Lifespan of Mice and the Possible Relevance to Man

Summary To determine the effects on lifespan of daily consumption of alcohol throughout adulthood, three groups of 100 male mice each (strain C57BL/J0J)‐housed one to a cage‐were given 3.5%, 7.5% and J2% v/v alcohol in distilled water as the only source of drinking fluid. On the basis of relative metabolic capacity, the resulting consumption levels could be considered comparable to a range in man from a moderate to an alcoholic intake. Two control groups of 100 mice each‐one group singly housed and the other housed five to a cage‐received distilled water ad libitum. There was no difference between the survival curves of the low alcohol and water‐drinking singly housed controls. The medium alcohol mice had the longest mean lifespan of the five groups and the high alcohol mice had the shortest. There were no clear alcohol‐related group differences in post mortem histology, although the early deaths in the high alcohol group showed evidence of a high rate of liver abnormality. The applicability of the findings to man is discussed.