*2.3. Animals*

All animal experiments were carried out in accordance with the protocol (No. CNU-01167) and the "Guidelines in Use of Animal" approved by Chungnam National University Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (Daejeon, Korea, 2019). Male Sprague–Dawley rats (aged 7–8 weeks, bodyweight 250–300 g) were purchased from Nara-Biotec (Seoul, Korea). All animals were housed in a dark-light cycle of 12 h at 22 ◦C and were allowed free access to water and food.
