Abstract

Abstract

Justicia flava is a plant species widely used in Côte d'Ivoire and recommended in traditional medicine. This plant is frequently used to treat joint pain. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of an aqueous extract of Justicia flava on protein denaturation and several serum biochemical parameters in an anti-arthritic test. For the protein denaturation test, 0.2 mL of fresh egg albumin was added to 2.8 mL of phosphate-buffered saline (pH 6.4) and 2 mL of distilled water for the control tube. The mixture was incubated at 37 ± 2 °C for 15 min, heated to 70 °C for 5 min, and the absorbance was measured at 660 nm. For the anti-arthritic test, 36 rats were divided into 6 groups of 6 rats each. Two injections of 0.1 ml of freshly prepared 2.5% formaldehyde were administered to the right hind leg on days 1 and 3 to indurate the arthritis. Blood samples were taken for biochemical analysis. The aqueous extract of Justicia flava at concentrations ranging from 0.04 to 1.25 mm/ml inhibited protein denaturation by 13.06% to 43.71% compared to the control. It also significantly increased (p

Keywords: Denaturation, proteins, arthritis, Justicia flava, formaldehyde.