After blood withdrawal, the livers and kidneys were harvested quickly, and divided into two portions: a portion was weighed and quickly stored at À80 8C until Cd measurement, while the second one was homogenized in RIPA lysis buffer (1:6 w:v), centrifuged at 10 000 rpm for 10 min at 4 8C, and its supernatant was stored at À80 8C until used for measurement the intra-hepatic and intra- renal concentrations of antioxidant and oxidative stress biomarkers as described below