Blood samples were collected through the external maxillary vein (2-months of age; 2M) or by cardiac puncture after CO2 asphyxiation (10-months of age; 10M), and directly placed in either regular or heparin coated tubes (Laboratorios Farmacéuticos Rovi). Isolation of serum and plasma fractions was performed after centrifugation at 2500× g for 10 min. The hematological analysis was performed with Abacus Junior Vet 5 automatic equipment (Diatron). Fresh blood (2/mice) extensions were prepared for Wright staining (Reagan et al., 2011).