Protective effect of saffron (Crocus sativus L.) aqueous extract against genetic damage induced by anti-tumor agents in mice

Abstract

<jats:p> The genotoxic potential of anti-tumor drugs limits their efficacy in the treatment of cancers. Since ancient times, saffron (dried stigmas of Crocus sativus L.) has been used as a spice and medicinal herb. Saffron is a rich source of carotenoids and is known for its anti-cancer and antitumor properties. The present study was designed to ascertain the chemoprotective potential of saffron against the genotoxicity of three well-known anti-tumor drugs-cisplatin (CIS), cyclophosphamide (CPH) and mitomycin C (MMC)-using comet assay. Three doses of saffron (20, 40 and 80 mg/kg b.w.) were orally administered to mice for five consecutive days prior to the administration of anti-tumor drugs under investigation. Pre-treatment with saffron significantly inhibited anti-tumor drugs induced cellular DNA damage (strand breaks) as revealed by decreased comet tail length, tail moment and percent DNA in the tail. These findings, together with our previous results, suggest a potential role for saffron as an anti-genotoxic, anti-oxidant and chemopreventive agent and could be used as an adjuvant in chemotherapeutic applications. </jats:p>

Protective Effect of Crocus sativus Stigma Extract and Crocin (trans-crocin 4) on Methyl Methanesulfonate–Induced DNA Damage in Mice Organs

“…It has been reported that saffron or its ingredients such as crocin and dimethylcrocin are not mutagenic or genotoxic (Salomi et al, 1991a;Abdullaev et al, 2002Abdullaev et al, , 2003. Premkumar et al also showed that saffron aqueous extract protects from genotoxicity as well as genotoxins-induced oxidative stress in mice (Premkumar et al, 2001(Premkumar et al, , 2003(Premkumar et al, , 2006. In these studies, oral pretreatment with aqueous saffron extract (20, 40, and 80 mg=Kg) for 5 consecutive days significantly inhibited the genotoxicity of antitumor drugs (cyclophosphamide, mitomycin C, and cisplatin), in vivo, as revealed by micronucleus and comet assay.…”

“…In these studies, oral pretreatment with aqueous saffron extract (20, 40, and 80 mg=Kg) for 5 consecutive days significantly inhibited the genotoxicity of antitumor drugs (cyclophosphamide, mitomycin C, and cisplatin), in vivo, as revealed by micronucleus and comet assay. It was suggested that saffron could exert its antigenotoxic and chemopreventive effects by the modulation of antioxidants and=or detoxification systems (Premkumar et al, 2001(Premkumar et al, , 2006. It was also reported that crocetin could significantly inhibit the genotoxic effects and neoplastic transformations of C3H1OT1=2 cells by benzo(a)pyrene (Chang et al, 1996).…”

Chemical constituents and bioactivities of the liposoluble fraction from different medicinal parts ofCrocus sativus

“…Chemical constituents and bioactivities of the liposoluble fraction from different medicinal parts of Crocus sativus chemopreventive potential against cancer (Abdullaev and Frenkel, 1992a,b;Escribano et al, 1996;Abdullaev and Espinosa-Aguirre 2004;Premkumar et al, 2006;Chryssanthi et al, 2007;Tavakkol-Afshari et al, 2008). Furthermore, antioxidant activity of saffron stigma and its active constituents were frequently reported (Nair et al, 1991;Assimopoulou et al, 2005;Naghizadeh et al, 2008).…”

Medicinal Plants for Treatment of Cancer: A Brief Review

“…This compound is cytotoxic against human cervical epithelioid carcinoma cells (IC 50 =7 mg/ml), and consists of approximately 90% carbohydrate and 10% protein. [63][64][65] …”