Whole-blood samples were taken from the cubital vein. Blood cell counts of leukocytes, haematocrit, thrombocytes, and leukocyte subtypes were analysed using the Sysmex XT 2000 Haematology Autoanalyser (Sysmex, Kobe, Japan) according to the manufacturer’s recommendation [44 (link)]. Serum cortisol levels were measured with the Advia Centaur Cortisol Assay (Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics, Eschborn, Germany) without within-sample replication [43 (link)].
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