Evaluación de la actividad antioxidante de Justicia pectoralis Jacq

the oxidative stress of aerobic organisms may be originated in both endogenous and exogenous sources and, although antioxidant defense mechanisms exist, cell damage by reative oxygen species is ubiquitous. for this reason, oxygen toxicity and the high reactive capacity of its molecules is a matter of discussion at present. the antioxidant activity against lipid peroxidation generated by spontaneous self-oxidation of phospholipids in rat brain homogenates and iron/ascorbate-catalyzed peroxidation (non-enzymatic) was studied in this paper. a dry powdered sample obtained from justicia pectoralis jacq through a technological procedure devised by the national products department of the drug research and development center was used. it met the set quality standards. this sample showed an antioxidant activity in both spontaneous and nonspontaneous self-oxidation of phospholipids