Biochemical Parameters

From the 15 mL of each blood sample, 7 mL of the original blood samples were placed into vacutainer tubes containing gelose for biochemical analysis. The blood serum was used to determine the following biochemical measures: Sodium, potassium, calcium, creatinine, alkaline phosphatase (ALP), albumin, ferritin, C-reactive protein (CRP), total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (C-HDL), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (C-LDL), triglycerides (TG), cortisol, testosterone, and testosterone/cortisol ratio. All biochemical measures were analyzed using an Auto Chemistry Analyzer BM-100 (BioMaxima S.A., Lublin, Poland). The analyzer used was maintained by regular quality control procedures according to the manufacturer's instruction to avoid any inconvenience during the procedures. The C-LDL was calculated based on the Friedewald Equation, i.e., TC-(TG/5)–C-HDL.
