After blood collection, all the animals were sacrificed and pancreas was dissected out. Tissue was washed with icecold saline, weighed and minced; 10% homogenate was prepared in 0.15M ice-cold KCl for TBARS (thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances), a marker for lipid peroxidation [24] and protein estimation [25]; in 0.02M EDTA for glutathione estimation [26]; and in phosphate buffer (pH 7.4) for superoxide dismutase (SOD) [27] and catalase estimations [28] using a Teflon tissue homogenizer. Decrease in levels of endogenous antioxidants with rise in TBARS levels was considered as oxidative stress.