Objective: Crocin, the carotenoid isolated from saffron, has numerous medicinal properties which include anticancer and antioxidant activities. Some antioxidants, such as carotenoids, can act as pro-oxidants at higher dosages and therefore induce tissue damage. In this situation antioxidant defense systems in the liver activate to prevent tissue damage. This study investigates the possible toxic effects of crocin on the liver of normal rats.Methods: Normal rats were randomly divided into four groups. Group 1 was treated with normal saline as the control and groups 2 to 4 were treated different doses of 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg crocin intraperitoneally once a week for four weeks. Animals were killed one week after the last injection. Serum profile of the rats that included ALT, AST, ALP, urea, uric acid and creatinine, as well as the activity of antioxidant enzymes (SOD, CAT and GPx), GSH content, and lipid and protein oxidation by measurement of MDA and protein carbonyl levels were assessed in the liver. In addition, we conducted histopathological examinations of the liver specimens.Results: We studied different crocin concentrations that have been used to treat various diseases. There were no significant changes in serum parameters, GSH, MDA, protein carbonyls and activities of CAT and SOD at the different crocin concentrations.Histopathological examination did not show any changes in the liver. Only the higher dose (200 mg/kg) decreased GPx activity which might be reversible over the long-term.Conclusion: Crocin, at the studied doses showed no toxic effects on the rat liver.

Diabetes is linked to heightened oxidative stress and diminished antioxidant potential, stemming from an increased generation of free radicals. The reported antioxidant attributes of saffron crocin highlight its potential in mitigating oxidative stress. The levels and functionality of BDNF (Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor) and NGF (Nerve Growth Factor) seem to undergo alterations in diabetes, primarily due to insulin resistance. These fluctuations in BDNF and NGF levels are intricately associated with the progression of type 2 diabetes.This study sought to explore the impact of crocin and safranal on the activity of antioxidant enzymes, including Superoxide Dismutase (SOD), Glutathione Peroxidase (GPx), Catalase (CAT), and neurotrophic factors derived from the brain and nerve (BDNF). Thirty-six male rats were categorized into six groups: a control group, an untreated diabetic group, and diabetic groups subjected to intraperitoneal injection of two concentrations (100 and 50 milligrams per milliliter) of crocin and safranal over a 25-day duration. At the conclusion of the treatment period, brain tissue dissection was performed to assess antioxidant enzymes BDNF and NGF.In the treatment group with a concentration of 100 milligrams per milliliter of crocin and safranal, there was a notable increase in BDNF, NGF, SOD, GPX, CAT, and MDA levels compared to the group treated with a concentration of 50 milligrams per milliliter of crocin, safranal, as well as the control group. These results suggest that crocin and safranal effectively enhance antioxidant markers and alleviate diabetes-related damages in the brain tissue of diabetic rats

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) are among important gastrointestinal diseases in human and include ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. Although the prevalence of these diseases in developed countries is high, however, their prevalence is increasing in developing countries such as Iran, too. Treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases at the early stages is very important because of chronic inflammation and its complications on different parts of the body. One of the most important consequences of chronic inflammation is colitis-induced colon cancer. Saffron is a traditionally herbal drug used by people in Asia especially Iran. It has several beneficial effects on the body especially as anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer. In this paper, we reviewed the effect of crocin on inflammation process especially in inflammatory bowel diseases.

Background: Crocin is a major constituent of saffron, the dried stigmas of Crocus sativus L., which is used mainly as a herbal medicine or a food coloring agent around the world. Novel publications reporting a cancer preventive effect for crocin motivated us to evaluate telomerase activity, the main cause of immortality in cancer cells, under treatment with crocin.Materials and Methods: IC50 concentration of crocin was estimated in MCF-7 cell line, a breast adenocarcinoma cancer model, by MTT (3- (4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl) -2, 5- diphenyltetrazolium bromide) test after 48 hours of treatment. A conventional telomere repeat amplification protocol (TRAP) assay and a real-time quantitative telomere repeat amplification protocol (qTRAP) assay were used to estimate relative telomerase activity in crocin-treated cells in comparison with untreated control cells.Results: Telomerase activity in the treated cells with different concentrations of crocin up to IC50 showed an increment after administration of very low doses of crocin, whereas higher concentrations of crocin remarkably inhibited the enzyme in a dose-dependent manner. IC50 values of crocin reduced by 85% in comparison with untreated control cells.Conclusion: qTRAP estimations show a good correlation with the conventional assay results. Antiproliferative effect of crocin in cancer cells is probably due to strong inhibition of telomerase activity.

The existence of isoform genes in plants led to creation of the different types of isomeric metabolites like these glycosylated forms. This study was conducted to investigate the identification and heterologous expression of Saffron stigmas Glycosyl transferase coding isoform gene during the pollination stage. The results have been obtained by sequencing and bioinformatics analysis of an isolated gene from saffron genomes by degenerate oligo’ s revealed that the gene is in1283 bp length and belongs to the CsUGT protein family which has Apo-plastic secretion in the cell. To evaluate the enzymatic function, firstly the isolated sequence was sub-cloned under arabinose induce promoter in pThio-UGT expression vector by the Gibson assembly technique. Then, the recombinant vector transformed into BL21-pGro7 bacteria which were able to express chaperon proteins with EL& ES subunits. Followed by destructing the bacteria cell wall via ultrasound, the pellet was suspended by PBS solution and then the soluble proteins were extracted by the boiling method. Finally, the protein electrophoresis by SDS pages 10% showed that the recombinant protein of CsUGT expressed correctly in bacteria with 69. 5 kDa molecular weight. The results obtained in this project could be applied to determine the breeding's strategies to improve qualitative and quantitative traits such as color and aroma in saffron.

Introduction: Saffron has some applications such as anti-spasmodic and analgesic effects in traditional medicine. The aim of this study was to evaluate the anti melanogenesis and antioxidant properties of crocin (one of the saffron active components) on B16F10 mouse melanoma cell line.Methods: In this experimental study, B16F10 cells were prepared from Pasteur Institute (NCBI) and were grown in medium containing 10% FBS with 1% antibiotics at 37o C.Then, the cell viability was assessed, the inhibitory effect of crocin on melanogenesis was investigated by fungal tyrosinase, and tyrosinase activity assessment, melanin synthesis and cellular antioxidant capacity was evaluated after treatment with various concentrations of crocin (1, 2, 4, 8, 16 µg/ ml) by DCFDA assay. Quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS software, one way ANOVA, Tukey test at p≤0.05Results: The data revealed no significant cytotoxicity of crocin (p>0.05) (concentrations of 1-16 µg/ ml) on B16F10 cells, in addition, fungal tyrosinase activity (***p≤ 0.001), intracellular tyrosinase activity (*p< 0.05, **p≤ 0.01) and melanin content (*p< 0.05, **p≤ 0. 01, ***p≤ 0.001) have suppressed in a dose-dependent manner. Further, reduction of free radicals in treated melanoma cells exhibited that crocin in concentrations of 4and 8 µg/ ml in p<0.05 and-16 µg/ mlin p≤ 0.001 possess significant antioxidant efficacy.Conclusion: Our results elucidated that crocin was proposed as melanogenesis inhibitor in B16F10 cells, which can be considered as an effective whitening agent.