Materials and Analytical Procedures

Abstract

Three-month-old healthy male albino rats of Wistar strain weighing 150 ± 50 g supplied by Central Animal House, J.N. Medical College, AMU, Aligarh, were used throughout present investigation. The animals were kept in highly hygienic conditions using polypropylene cages maintained at 28 ± 5 °C with lighting conditions (photoperiod) of 12 h of light and 12 h of darkness. They were kept on pellet diet (Hindustan Lever Ltd., Mumbai, India) measuring up to the nutritional standards recommended by the U.S. National Research Council Publication No. 990, titled “Nutritional Requirements of Laboratory Animals” and water was available ad libitum. The animals were acclimatized for 1 week after being transferred from their colonies to the working laboratory. The animal room and cages were cleaned daily to keep them dust-free. The rats showing signs of disease were removed immediately after identification. Female rats were excluded from the study because of their cyclic hormonal variations.