Hesperidin

Valproic acid (VPA: Sigma-Aldrich, Inc., St. Louis, MO, USA) and hesperidin (Hsd: ChemFaces Biochemical, Wuhan, China) were freshly prepared daily before being administered to the rats. VPA was dissolved in a 0.9% saline solution to make a dose of 300 mg/kg, and Hsd was dissolved in propylene glycol to obtain a dose of 100 mg/kg. In the vehicle group, the rats received 0.9% saline solution by intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection twice daily for 14 days and propylene glycol by oral gavage daily for 21 days. In the VPA group, rats were administered i.p. injections of VPA at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. daily for 14 days [11 (link)]. In the Hsd group, the rats were given Hsd solution orally for 21 days [7 (link)] and, in the VPA plus Hsd group, the rats received VPA by i.p. injection for 14 days and Hsd orally for 21 days at the same doses and times as performed in the VPA and Hsd groups, respectively. To later assess cell survival, each rat received an i.p. injection of 5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine (BrdU; 100 mg/kg, Sigma-Aldrich, Inc., St. Louis, MO, USA) for three days before drug administration.

Hesperidin (purity ≥ 98%) was purchased from Chem Faces Company (Wuhan, Hubei, China). n(g)-Nitro-l-arginine methyl ester hydrochloride (l-NAME) and captopril were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich Corp (St. Louis, MO, USA). All the other chemicals used in this study were obtained from standard companies and were of analytical grade quality.