2.2. Determination of plasma ethanol levels
The rats were anesthetized with urethane (1.25 g/kg, i.p., Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO, USA) and 1 ml of blood was collected from inferior vena cava using heparinized syringes. The samples (100 μl) were transferred into 20 ml headspace vials and analyzed as previously described [19]. Plasma ethanol levels are expressed as mg/dl.