*3.1. Materials*

1,9-Dimethyl-methylene blue zinc chloride double salt (DMMB), 2,7-dichlorofluorescin diacetate (DCFH-DA), 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazolyl-2)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT), deuterium oxide (D2O), and Griess reagen<sup>t</sup> were purchased from Sigma Chemical Company (St. Louis, MO, USA). Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (DMEM) and fetal bovine serum (FBS) were obtained from Cultilab (Campinas, SP, Brazil). Penicillin and streptomycin were purchased from Gibco (Fort Worth, TX, USA). The kit for cytokine analysis was purchased from BD Biosciences (San Jose, CA, USA). Lipopolysaccharide (LPS), *Escherichia coli* 055: B5 was obtained from Santa Cruz Biotechnology (Dallas, TX, USA). All the other solvents and chemical products were of analytical grade.
