*2.3. Experimental Design*

Forty-two animals were randomly distributed into seven groups: controls (C), which received corn oil; controls (C300) treated with MeJA at the dose of 300 mg/kg; arthritic rats (A), which received corn oil; arthritic rats (A75, A150 and A300) treated with MeJA, respectively, at the doses of 75, 150 and 300 mg/kg; and arthritic rats (AIBU) treated with ibuprofen (30 mg/kg). This procedure was repeated three times (42 × 3 = 126 rats in total) throughout the study. Animals were orally treated (by gavage) once a day with MeJA, corn oil or ibuprofen during the 18 days after arthritis induction. The doses of MeJA were defined according to previous studies showing that they are biologically active and well tolerated when the compound is administered to rodents [9,32].
