2.7. Blood Sampling, Liver Harvesting, and Wet/Dry Weight (W/D) Ratio Determination

All mice were closely monitored for 24 h. The surviving mice received zoletil/xylazine (40/10 mg/kg, i.p.) for anesthesia. After obtaining blood samples, decapitation was performed to euthanize the mice. Then, the liver tissues were collected. Part of the liver tissues (the right and median lobes) were immediately frozen with liquid nitrogen and then stored (−80 °C) for later analysis. Part of the liver tissues (the left lobe) was placed in 10% formalin (Sigma-Aldrich) for histological analysis.

Moreover, for liver water content assay, part of the liver tissues (the caudate lobe) was freshly collected, weighed, placed in an oven (80 °C) for 24 h, and weighed again. Then, the W/D weight ratio was calculated to determine liver water content [30].