Study the effects of saffron on depression and lipid profiles: A double blind comparative study

Effect of crocin on aged rat kidney through inhibition of oxidative stress and proinflammatory state

“…This in turn may contribute to the disruption of intracellular and membrane redox state of many cells (Samarghandian et al, 2016a,b,c). The improvement recorded after crocin treatment of aging rats might propose a protective effect of saffron and its constituents against aging that might be mediated through neutralization of oxygen free radicals (Samini et al, ; Sahraian et al, ). A stimulating effect of the synthesis of GSH by crocin was observed in the present study.…”

“…It may be relevant that the ratio of GSH/GSSG plays a critical role in cellular homeostasis and membrane redox state (Sinha, ). Crocin induced an increase in renal GSH content which might enhance the GSH/GSSG ratio and decrease renal lipid peroxidation (Sahraian et al, ; Kawasaki et al, ; Halataei et al, ). Parallel to these events, renal SOD activity was increased in the aging rats supplemented with crocin as compared with young rats.…”

“…Thus, natural antioxidants have received growing attention as potential preventive agent by scavenging ROS, detoxifying potent genotoxic oxidants in recent years and also therapeutic interventions that inhibit inflammatory pathways may be an effective strategy to attenuate the aged related‐disorders (Samarghandian et al, ; Samini et al, ). Crocus sativus L. (Iridaceae), commonly known as saffron, has been used in medicine as an effective for neurodegenerative disorders and related memory impairment, ischemic retinopathy and age‐related macular degeneration, coronary artery disease, blood pressure abnormalities, acute and chronic inflammatory disease, mild to moderate depression, seizure, Parkinsonism (Ayatollahi et al, ; Bukhari et al, ; Higashino et al, ; Hosseinzadeh and Nassiri‐Asl, ; Kawasaki et al, ; Papandreou et al, ; Sahraian et al, ; Samarghandian et al, ). The main ingredients of saffron including crocin, crocetin, safranal and picrocrocin may be responsible for these pharmacological effects (Sahraian et al, ; Malaekeh‐Nikouei et al, ; Shirali et al, ).…”

Herbal medicines in the treatment of psychiatric disorders: 10‐year updated review

“…Since that meta‐analysis, another small 12 week double‐blind RCT ( n = 60) revealed a significant effect for 50 mg of saffron per day in improving mood and reducing anxiety over placebo (Mazidi et al, ). A 6 week double‐blind RCT ( n = 40) also showed that saffron (30 mg per day) was equivalent to the antidepressant fluoxetine in postpercutaneous coronary intervention patients with depression (Shahmansouri et al, ); whereas another small ( n = 40) 4 week double‐blind RCT assessing saffron augmentation (30 mg per day) with fluoxetine showed no effect over placebo (Sahraian, Jelodar, Javid, Mowla, & Ahmadzadeh, ).…”

The effect of saffron on weight and lipid profile: A systematic review, meta‐analysis, and dose–response of randomized clinical trials

“…Saffron contains a rich source of carotenoids (crocin), glycoside (picrocrocin), and a volatile oil component (safranal; Fernández, 2004;Winterhalter & Straubinger, 2000). Crocin is one of the major bioactive constituents and has a plethora of biological activities, including antigenotoxic and cytotoxic effects (Abdullaev, 2006;G Gutheil, Reed, Ray, Anant, & Dhar, 2012), antioxidant (Charles, 2013;Chen et al, 2008), antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory (Poma, Fontecchio, Carlucci, & Chichiricco, 2012), antiatherosclerotic (Kamalipour & Akhondzadeh, 2011), antidiabetic (Shirali, Zahra Bathaie, & Nakhjavani, 2013), hypotensive (Imenshahidi, Hosseinzadeh, & Javadpour, 2010), hypolipidemic (Sheng, Qian, Zheng, & Xi, 2006), hypoglycemic (Kianbakht & Mozaffari, 2009;Mohajeri, Mousavi, & Doustar, 2009), antidepressant (Gout, Bourges, & Paineau-Dubreuil, 2010;Sahraian, Jelodar, Javid, Mowla, & Ahmadzadeh, 2016), and satiety enhancing (Gout et al, 2010).…”