Table 3.

Knockout of α5 gene reduced somatic signs in morphine-treated mice

Individual somatic signs	α5 WT SAL	α5 KO SAL	α5 WT MOR	α5 KO MOR
Paw tremors	1.2 ± 0.4	0.3 ± 0.2	33 ± 13.2*	12.5 ± 3.0#
Head shakes	0.3 ± 0.2	0 ± 0	1.8 ± 0.7*	2.3 ± 0.7*#
Backing	0 ± 0	0 ± 0	2.5 ± 0.9	1.2 ± 0.3
Ptosis	0 ± 0	0 ± 0	0 ± 0	0 ± 0
Jumping	0 ± 0	0.2 ± 0.2	44.5 ± 7.7*	26.0 ± 4.88*#
Body tremor	0 ± 0	0 ± 0	0 ± 0	0 ± 0
Occurrence of diarrhoea (% of mice)	0	0	100	50

Mice were made dependent on morphine for 8 days. On day 9, mice were administered naloxone (2 mg·kg⁻¹) before observing individual physical signs expressed as mean ± SEM and % occurrence of diarrhoea.

*Denotes difference from vehicle group. n = 8 mice per group.

*P < 0.05 from control group.

^#P < 0.05 from Morphine WT group.

MOR, morphine; SAL, saline.