Pharmacological properties and therapeutic potential of saffron (Crocus sativus L.) in osteosarcoma

Abstract

Objectives In this comprehensive study, we aimed to investigate pharmacological properties and therapeutic significance of saffron in osteosarcoma cancer cells. Methods Plant materials were obtained from Safranbolu district of Karabuk, Turkey. For the determination of anticancer properties, thiazolyl blue tetrazolium bromide (MTT) cell viability, colony formation, wound closure, DNA ladder assays and gene expression analysis by real‐time PCR were performed. Also, cellular inflammation, total antioxidant and oxidants status were determined. Key findings Dichloromethane and hexane extracts of saffron were significantly inhibited cell proliferation and interfered with colony forming and migration capabilities of U2‐OS osteosarcoma cancer cells. Also, both extracts induced the activation of tumour suppressor CDKN2B gene and altered cellular morphology resembling the induction of apoptosis. However, DNA fragmentation was not observed after extract treatments. Saffron was also found to have no significant effect on cellular inflammation. Unexpectedly, both dichloromethane and hexane extracts of saffron had no marked effect on cellular total antioxidant and oxidant status. Lastly, vanillic acid, resveratrol, caffeic acid and 4‐hydroxybenzoic acid were found to be highly rich in our extracts. Conclusions Findings of this study demonstrated significant antiproliferative and antitumorigenic properties of saffron in osteosarcoma.

Antioxidant and Oxidant Status of Endemic Helleborus vesicarius

“…Many of the chemical compounds considered as natural compounds are of natural origin. The vast majority of these sources have been reported to have bioactivities such as antioxidants (Yumrutas et al, 2012;Bal et al, 2017), anticancer (Ege et al, 2020) hepatoprotective (Yalcin et al, 2017), antimutagenic (Pehlivan et al, 2020), antimicrobials (Sevindik et al, 2018;Güzel et al, 2019), wound healing (Ozay et al, 2019 There is no study to determine the antioxidant activity of H. vesicarius in the literature. The antioxidant and oxidant potential of H. vesicarius was determined in our study.…”

Spices and herbs as immune enhancers and anti-inflammatory agents: a review

“…Contrarily, some studies have shown no changes in inflammatory markers. Ege et al (2020) found that human osteosarcoma cells treated with saffron extracts at various concentrations had no significant alteration to the expression of IL-6 and IL-8. A metaanalysis of eight clinical trials similarly concluded that saffron supplementation did not affect inflammatory cytokines (Asbaghi et al, 2021).…”

The effects and underlying mechanisms of medicine and food homologous flowers on the prevention and treatment of related diseases

“…In addition, C. sativus can also significantly interfere with the viability of human osteosarcoma cancer cells by inducing the expression of the tumor suppressor gene CDKN2B and changing the morphology of cancer cells in states such as apoptosis. It has significant anti‐proliferation and anti‐tumor properties (Ege et al, 2020).…”