All experiments were performed on healthy, adult, male albino rats of Wistar strain, weighing approximately 100–120 g. Animals were obtained from the animal house facility of the Defence Research and Development Establishment (DRDE), Gwalior. All animals received humane care in compliance with the guidelines of the Committee for the Purpose of Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals (CPCSEA). The Animal Ethical Committee of DRDE, Gwalior, India also approved the protocols for the experiments. Prior to dosing, they were acclimatized for 7 days to light from 06:00 to 18:00 h, alternating with 12 h darkness. The animals were housed in stainless steel cages in an air-conditioned room with temperature maintained at 25 ± 2 °C. Rats were allowed; metal content of diet, in ppm dry weight: Cu 10.0, Zn 45.0, Mn 55.0, Co 5.0, Fe 75.0) throughout the experiment and water ad libitum.