Effects of crocin in reducing DNA damage, inflammation, and oxidative stress in multiple sclerosis patients: A double‐blind, randomized, and placebo‐controlled trial

Abstract

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks the nerve cells, resulting in neurological disorders. Oxidative stress, free radicals, and neuritis have important roles in MS pathogenesis. Here, we aim to evaluate the effect of crocin on inflammatory markers, oxidative damage, and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) damage in the blood of patients with MS. A total of 40 patients were divided into two groups, drug and placebo‐treated groups, using random assignment. Participants of the intervention and control groups received two crocin capsules or placebo per day for 28 days, respectively. Findings revealed a significant decrease in the level of important pathogenic factors in MS, including lipid peroxidation, DNA damage, tumor necrosis factor‐alpha, and interleukin 17 as well as a significant increase in the total antioxidant capacity in the serum of patients treated with crocin compared with the placebo group. Our results suggest the beneficial and therapeutic effects of crocin in MS.

Effects of saffron supplementation on oxidative/antioxidant status and severity of disease in ulcerative colitis patients: A randomized, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled study

“…TAC increased in the saffron group and decreased in the control group at the end of the current study, also there was a significant difference in TAC change between the supplement and placebo groups. Similar to our results, Ghiasian et al found a significant increase in serum level of TAC in the Crocin group (30 mg) compared to the control group in MS patients (Ghiasian et al, 2019). An animal study reported that 0.063, 0.25, and 1 mg/kg Safranal significantly increased TAC activity and dose‐dependently reduced wound area (Tamaddonfard et al, 2019).…”

Effects of saffron (Crocus sativus L.) supplementation on inflammatory biomarkers: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…The duration of intervention ranged between 4 and 12 weeks. Seven studies were conducted on both genders (Azimi et al, 2016; Ebrahimi et al, 2019; Ghaderi et al, 2019; Ghiasian et al, 2019; Kermani et al, 2017; Mohamadpour et al, 2013; Shahbazian et al, 2019) while only one study was performed exclusively on males (Mousavi et al, 2015). The total sample size of the included RCTs was 472 individuals (248 subjects in the saffron group and 224 subjects in the control group).…”

“…Intervention dosage varied between 30 and 1,000 mg/day for saffron as well as 20 and 30 mg/day for crocin. Beside healthy participants (Mohamadpour et al, 2013), the selected trials also included participants with different health conditions including type 2 diabetes (Azimi et al, 2016; Ebrahimi et al, 2019; Shahbazian et al, 2019), schizophrenia (Mousavi et al, 2015), metabolic syndrome (Kermani et al, 2017), multiple sclerosis (Ghiasian et al, 2019), and participants under methadone maintenance treatment (Ghaderi et al, 2019).…”

“…The duration of intervention ranged between 4 and 12 weeks. Seven studies were conducted on both genders (Azimi et al, 2016;Ebrahimi et al, 2019;Ghaderi et al, 2019;Ghiasian et al, 2019;Kermani et al, 2017;Mohamadpour et al, 2013;Shahbazian et al, 2019) while only one study was performed exclusively on males (Mousavi et al, 2015). The total sample size of the participants with different health conditions including type 2 diabetes (Azimi et al, 2016;Ebrahimi et al, 2019;Shahbazian et al, 2019), schizophrenia (Mousavi et al, 2015), metabolic syndrome (Kermani et al, 2017), multiple sclerosis (Ghiasian et al, 2019), and participants under methadone maintenance treatment (Ghaderi et al, 2019).…”

“…This is partly due to the strong antioxidant and radical scavenging effects of its active components, particularly crocetin and crocin. Several studies have shown that saffron supplementation may have a significant impact on serum levels of some inflammatory biomarkers in different populations (Ghaderi et al, 2019; Ghiasian et al, 2019). However, some other investigations showed that saffron supplementation did not influence the levels of inflammatory biomarkers (Azimi et al, 2015; Ebrahimi et al, 2019; Mohamadpour, Ayati, Parizadeh, Rajbai, & Hosseinzadeh, 2013; Mousavi et al, 2015).…”