Figure 7.

Effects of CyrTx‐1a on tactile and heat sensitivity of mice in vivo. (a) The tactile sensitivity of mice was assessed using an automated plantar von Frey apparatus, by determining the force intensity at which the animals removed their hind limb submitted to an increasing fibre pressure. The same mice were tested before (no injection) and 15 min after intraplantar injection in each hind limb of 5 μl of PBS, CyrTx‐1a (i.e., 102 nmol·kg⁻¹) or HwTx‐IV (i.e., 49 nmol·kg⁻¹). (b) The heat sensitivity of mice was assessed using a hot‐plate set at 55.0 ± 0.2°C, by determining the latency for the animals either to shake one of their two hind limbs or to jump. Three groups of mice were tested 60 min after intraplantar injection in each hind limb of 5 μl of PBS, CyrTx‐1a (i.e., 102 nmol·kg⁻¹) or HwTx‐IV (i.e., 49 nmol·kg⁻¹), while another group of animals was tested without any injection. (a) and (b) Means ± SD of data obtained from n mice (numbers in parentheses) under each condition. ^* P < 0.05, significantly different as indicated