The safety assessment of saffron (Crocus sativus L.) on sympathovagal balance and heart rate variability; a comparison with amiodarone

Abstract

Dry stigmas of the Crocus sativus L. (Saffron) are well known in world as a popular flavouring and therapeutic agent. The anxiolytic, antidepressant, anticonvulsant and antiarrhythmic effects of saffron suggest that it may affect the autonomic control of the heart. This study assessed its safety on cardiac sympathovagal balance and heart rate variability in rat. Experimental groups were control, Saf50, Saf100, Saf200 (received saffron at dosages of 50 and 100 and 200 mg/kg/d, orally, respectively) and Amio (received 30 mg/mL/kg/d of amiodarone, orally, for 7 days) groups. On day 8, the frequency domain and time domain indices of animals' electrocardiograms were calculated. The heart rate decreased and RR interval increased in Saf200 and Amio groups (P<.05 vs other groups). Square root of the mean squared differences of successive RR intervals enhanced in all treated groups, however, was only significant in Amio group (P<.05). The SD1/SD2 ratio was higher in Saf200 and Amio groups. Both low-frequency (LF) and high-frequency (HF) parameters were higher, and the LF/HF ratio was non-significantly lower in treated groups. The findings suggest that saffron not only has no harmful effect on activity of cardiac autonomic nervous system, but it may improve the stability of heart sympathovagal balance in normal rat.

The Protective Role of Crocus Sativus L. (Saffron) Against Ischemia- Reperfusion Injury, Hyperlipidemia and Atherosclerosis: Nature Opposing Cardiovascular Diseases

“…[122]. These results were confirmed in animal models as well, where similar experiments showed that saffron had advantageous effects on the cardiovascular system of rats [123] and rabbits [81]. As aforementioned in the previous sections, saffron manifested also an indirect cardiovascular protective effect, which included cardioprotection against doxorubicin toxicity [81, 124, 125].…”

The cardiovascular‐protective properties of saffron and its potential pharmaceutical applications: A critical appraisal of the literature

“…The cardioprotective impact of saffron is supported as well by several experimental studies documenting less cardiac dysfunction in animals receiving SFEs and cardiotoxic agents, such as doxorubicin (Chahine et al, 2013) and diazinon (Razavi, Hosseinzadeh, Movassaghi, Imenshahidi, & Abnous, 2013). Moreover, saffron may promote cardiac electrical stability exerting anti‐arrhythmic effects (Joukar et al, 2013; Joukar & Dehesh, 2015).…”

A comparative review on heart ion channels, action potentials and electrocardiogram in rodents and human: extrapolation of experimental insights to clinic

“…While, ECG does not measure contraction of the cardiac muscle, however, it reflects instantaneous changes in cardiac cell membrane or channels, or intracellular signaling and ion regulation that stem from the status of heart biochemical and metabolic processes [ 12 ]. In addition, ECG is used to estimate heart rate variability (HRV), the degree of difference in the interbeat intervals of successive heartbeats, an indicator of the heart sympathovagal balance [ 13 , 14 ]. To assess ECG rhythm in humans, analysis of rate, regularity of waves sequence, PR interval, QRS interval, QT interval, waves’ voltage and duration, ST shift, dropped beats or pauses and groupings of QRS complexes and so in, should be considered.…”