Female ICR mice at 6 weeks of age were supplied by the National Laboratory Animal Center (Mahidol University, Nakhon Pathom, Thailand) and were housed in the Labora- tory Animal Unit of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences (Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand) under thesupervision of the veterinary doctor of the Northeast Laboratory Animal Center, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand.