Forced Swim Test

A forced swim test was conducted to analyze the depressive behavior of the animals. The protocol of the test was followed as described by (Murad et al., 2014) with few modifications. A transparent container with a diameter of 20 cm and a height of 30 cm was filled with water at 25°C ± 2°C. The depth of the water was adjusted according to the size of the mice, to prevent their hind limbs and tail from touching the bottom of the container. The animals were placed into the water, and their activity was recorded using a camera for 6 min. The water in the container was discarded and refilled for each mouse prior to testing. The time spent immobile, number of immobile episodes, and latency to immobility were calculated for each mouse.