2), carbon dioxide production (VCO
2), and respiratory exchange ratio (RER) were determined after 3 weeks of STM treatment using a Comprehensive Lab Animal Monitoring System (CLAMS)-Oxymax (Columbus Instruments, Columbus, USA). The energy expenditure was calculated using the formula VO
2×[3.815+(1.232×RER)] and analysed using ANCOVA with body weight as a covariate via the MMPC.org ANCOVA data analysis tool, as previously described [
21 (link),
22 (link)] .