A blood sample after a 12 h overnight fast was taken by venipuncture using the standard vacuum-tube system. The serum
was obtained by centrifuging the samples at 3000 rpm for 5 min. Glucose, total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol and triacylglycerides were quantified within 4 h of blood collection with a semi-automatic spectrophotometer (Labquest®, Labtest Diagnóstica) and commercial kits (Labtest Diagnóstica) by enzymatic colorimetric assay.