*5.2. Animals*

Twelve male and twenty-four female Wistar rats (250–300 g), maintained under controlled conditions (food and water was permitted ad libitum, and the animals were maintained on a 12:12 light/dark schedule with lights on at 7 a.m.), were used for mating. All the experimental procedures were approved by our Institutional Ethics Committee for Experiments on Animals (No. 1927030818).
