5% (1:100 dilution of stock formalin solution, 37% formaldehyde in 0.9% saline). Following injection, the mice was returned to the observation chamber. Mice were observed from 0 to 10 min (early phase) and from 10 to 30 min (late phase). The nociception score was determined by counting the time that the animal spent licking or biting the injected limb during the observation

time (Dubuisson and Dennis, 1977). The tail flick test in mice was conducted as described elsewhere Selleckchem E7080 (D’Amour and Smith, 1941), with minor modifications. Before the day of the experiment, each animal was habituated to the restraint cylinder for 5 consecutive days (20 min per day). On the experimental day, mice were placed in the restraint cylinder and the tail tip (2 cm) was immersed in a water bath at 48 °C ± 0.5 °C. The latency for the tail withdrawal reflex was measured. Each trial was terminated after 10 s to minimize the probability of skin damage. Tail flick latency was measured before (baseline) and after treatments. To evaluate possible non-specific muscle-relaxant or sedative effects of M. lemniscatus venom, mice were submitted to the rota rod test ( Kuribara et al., 1977). The rota rod apparatus (Insight, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil) consisted of find more a bar with a diameter of 3 cm, subdivided

into five compartments. The bar rotated at a constant speed of 6 revolutions Selleckchem MG132 per min. The animals were selected 24 h previously by eliminating those mice that did not remain on the bar for two consecutive periods of 120 s. Animals were treated with diazepam (10 mg/kg i.p.), venom (1600 μg/kg p.o.), or vehicle (200 μL p.o.), and 40 min afterward, were placed on a rotating rod. The resistance to falling was measured

up to 120 s. The results are expressed as the average time (s) the animals remained on the rota rod in each group. To assess the possible effects of M. lemniscatus venom on locomotor activity, mice were evaluated in the open-field test ( Rodrigues et al., 2002). Mice were treated with diazepam (10 mg/kg i.p.), venom (1600 μg/kg p.o.), or vehicle (200 μL p.o.), and 40 min afterward were placed individually in a wooden box (40 × 60 × 50 cm) with the floor divided into 12 squares. The number of squares crossed with the four paws was measured for a period of 3 min. All data are presented as means ± standard error of the mean (S.E.M) of measurements made on six animals in each group. All data were analyzed using the Prism 5 computer software (GraphPad, San Diego, USA). Comparisons across three or more treatments were made using one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s post hoc test or repeated measures two-way ANOVA with Bonferroni’s post hoc test, when appropriate. Statistical differences were considered to be significant at p < 0.05.