2.3. Animals

Male CD-1 mice from UNAM's Faculty of Medicine vivarium weighting 20–25 g were used for the toxicity evaluation and 35–40 g mice for the rest of the experiments. They were housed in standard laboratory conditions (22 ± 2°C, 12-h light dark cycle), with free access to standard pellet diet (Rodent Lab Chow Purina®) and water ad libitum. 12 hours prior to each experiment, the animals were deprived of food with free access to water and placed in individual wire-net raised floors to prevent coprophagy. The experimental protocols were approved by the Ethical Committee of the UNAM's Faculty of Medicine (approval number 087/2013) and conducted in conformity with the Mexican Official Norm for animal care and handling (NOM-062-ZOO-1999) and in accordance with the ethical guidelines of the National Institutes of Health. The assays recorded in this work required different number of animals as indicated below.