2.4. Experimental animals

Rats (150 ± 20 g) were obtained from the animal house of the Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI), Lucknow, India. They were kept in the departmental animal house, Integral University Lucknow. The animals were housed separately in polypropylene cages for acclimatization at a temperature of 23 ± 2 °C and relative humidity of 50–60% with a 12-hour light/dark cycle for 1 week before and during the commencement of the experiment. Animals were kept on standard pellet diet and provided drinking water ad libitum throughout the housing period. All the experiments were conducted in accordance with the guidelines of the Committee for the Purpose of Control and Supervision of Experimental Animal. Ethical clearance for the project was obtained from Institutional Animal Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Pharmacy at the Integral University Lucknow (Approval No. IU/PHARM/M.PHARM/IAEC/15/10).