*2.4. Statistical Analysis*

Triple comparison of the groups was performed using Kruskal–Wallis test and the Dunn post hoc test and pairwise comparison of the groups was performed using Mann– Whitney U test, according to the data distribution (evaluated by Kolmogorov–Smirnov test). The relationship between pairs of two parameters was assessed by Spearman's correlation coefficient, according to the data distribution. We chose a significance level (*p*) of 0.05 (5%) and a confidence interval of 95% for hypothesis testing.
