It is important to mention that the prevalence of alcohol abuse or dependence is significantly higher in men compared with women,64 whereas naive Sprague Dawley female rats generally drink more ethanol.65,6667 Female Wistar rats, on the other hand, were reported to drink less ethanol compared with male rats,68 which was attributed to a twofold higher hepatic alcohol dehydrogenase enzyme activity69 in the female Wistar rats. The gene discussed is AKR1A1; the disease is substance dependence.