Brassica juncea (BJ) is a familiar edible crop, which has been used as a dietary ingredient and to prepare anti-inflammatory/anti-arthritic formulations in Ayurveda. But, the scientific validation or confirmation of its therapeutic properties is very limited. This study was performed to determine the efficiency of BJ leaves for the treatment of Rheumatoid arthritis using in vivo and in silico systems. Standard in vitro procedures was followed to study the total phenolic, flavonoid contents and free radical scavenging ability of the extracts of BJ. The effective extract was screened and the presence of bioactive chemicals was studied using HPLC. Further, the possible therapeutic actions of the BJ active principles against the disease targets were studied using PPI networking and docking analysis. IL2RA, IL18 and VEGFA are found to be the potential RA target and the compounds detected from BJ extract have shown great binding efficiency towards the target from molecular docking study. The resulting complexes were then subject to 100 ns molecular dynamics simulation studies with the GROMACS package to analyze the stability of docked protein-ligand complexes and to assess the fluctuation and conformational changes during protein-ligand interactions. To confirm the anti-arthritic activity of BJ, the extract was tested in CFA-induced arthritic Wistar rats. The test groups administered with BJ extract showed retrieval of altered hematological parameters and substantial recovery from inflammation and degeneration of rat hind paw. Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma

This research evaluated a bacterial strain, Bacillus cereus (S55), isolated from the soil for its bioflocculant production capabilities. The strain was identified through morphological and 16s rRNA gene sequencing. The optimization of culture conditions, using One-factor-at-a-time method, significantly enhanced bioflocculant production with glucose and urea. FTIR analysis showed the presence of hydroxyl, amine and carboxylate functional groups, with polysaccharides as predominant components. Scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction confirmed the crystalline nature of the bioflocculant. The strain studied showed potential in treating household wastewater and was effective at removing dyes, suggesting alternatives for wastewater management.