Microbiomic and Metabolomic Analyses Unveil the Protective Effect of Saffron in a Mouse Colitis Model

Antioxidant Therapy in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases: How Far Have We Come and How Close Are We?

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) pose a growing public health challenge with unclear etiology and limited efficacy of traditional pharmacological treatments. Alternative therapies, particularly antioxidants, have gained scientific interest. This systematic review analyzed studies from MEDLINE, Cochrane, Web of Science, EMBASE, and Scopus using keywords like "Inflammatory Bowel Diseases" and "Antioxidants." Initially, 925 publications were identified, and after applying inclusion/exclusion criteria-covering studies from July 2015 to June 2024 using murine models or clinical trials in humans and evaluating natural or synthetic substances affecting oxidative stress markers-368 articles were included. This comprised 344 animal studies and 24 human studies. The most investigated antioxidants were polyphenols and active compounds from medicinal plants (n = 242; 70.3%). The review found a strong link between oxidative stress and inflammation in IBD, especially in studies on nuclear factor kappa B and nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 pathways. However, it remains unclear whether inflammation or oxidative stress occurs first in IBD. Lipid peroxidation was the most studied oxidative damage, followed by DNA damage. Protein damage was rarely investigated. The relationship between antioxidants and the gut microbiota was examined in 103 animal studies. Human studies evaluating oxidative stress markers were scarce, reflecting a major research gap in IBD treatment. PROSPERO registration: CDR42022335357 and CRD42022304540.

Saffron as a Promising Therapy for Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic inflammatory illness of the gastrointestinal tract (GI), characterized by recurrent episodes of inflammation and tissue destruction. It affects an increasing number of individuals worldwide who suffer from Crohn's disease (CD) or ulcerative colitis (UC). Despite substantial advances in understanding the underlying causes of IBD, the available treatments remain restricted and are sometimes accompanied by severe consequences. Consequently, there is an urgent need to study alternate therapeutic options. This review assesses the present drugs, identifies their limitations, and proposes the use of saffron, a natural plant with great therapeutic potential based on preclinical and clinical investigations. Saffron has gained attention for its potential therapeutic benefits in treating various ailments due to its established bioactive compounds possessing antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. This review covers how saffron impacts the levels of calprotectin, an inflammatory marker, for various inflammatory responses in multiple diseases including IBD. Data from clinical trials were assessed to determine the efficacy and safety of using saffron to counter inflammation in multiple diseases. Studies have shown that saffron may protect against inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) through several mechanisms by inhibiting pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6), reducing oxidative stress through antioxidant effects, enhancing mucosal barrier function by upregulating tight junction proteins, and modulating the gut microbiota composition to promote beneficial bacteria while suppressing pathogenic ones; these combined actions contribute to its therapeutic potential in managing and alleviating the symptoms of IBD. This will enable future research endeavors and expedite the translation of saffron-based interventions into clinical practice as a valuable adjunctive therapy or a potential alternative to conventional treatments, thereby enhancing the quality of life for individuals suffering from inflammatory diseases including IBD.

Saffron, a Potential Bridge between Nutrition and Disease Therapeutics: Global Health Challenges and Therapeutic Opportunities

Plants are an important source of essential bioactive compounds that not only have a beneficial role in human health and nutrition but also act as drivers for shaping gut microbiome. However, the mechanism of their functional attributes is not fully understood despite their significance. One such important plant is Crocus sativus, also known as saffron, which possesses huge medicinal, nutritional, and industrial applications like food and cosmetics. The importance of this plant is grossly attributed to its incredible bioactive constituents such as crocins, crocetin, safranal, picrocrocin, and glycosides. These bioactive compounds possess a wide range of therapeutic activities against multiple human ailments. Since a huge number of studies have revealed negative unwanted side effects of modern-day drugs, the scientific communities at the global level are investigating a large number of medicinal plants to explore natural products as the best alternatives. Taken into consideration, the available research findings indicate that saffron has a huge scope to be further explored to establish alternative natural-product-based drugs for health benefits. In this review, we are providing an update on the role of bioactive compounds of saffron as therapeutic agents (human disorders and antimicrobial activity) and its nutritional values. We also highlighted the role of omics and metabolic engineering tools for increasing the content of key saffron bioactive molecules for its mass production. Finally, pre-clinical and clinical studies seem to be necessary to establish its therapeutic potential against human diseases.

Mechanism of Antitumor Effects of Saffron in Human Prostate Cancer Cells

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer deaths among men in the USA. Several studies have demonstrated the antitumor properties of saffron in different types of cancers, including prostate cancer. The oral administration of saffron extract has been reported to have antitumor effects on aggressive prostate-cancer-cell-line-derived xenografts in nude male mice. The objective of this study was to carry out in vitro studies of saffron-treated prostate cancer cells to ascertain the effects of saffron on key intermediates in prostate carcinogenesis. Our studies demonstrated the significant inhibition of cell proliferation for androgen-sensitive prostate cancer cell lines via apoptotic pathways. We also demonstrate the statistically significant down-regulation of DNA methyltransferases (COMT, MGMT, EHMT2, and SIRT1 deacetylase) in saffron-treated prostate cancer cells. In addition, saffron-treated prostate cancer cells displayed a statistically significant dysregulation of DNA repair intermediates (WRN, p53, RECQ5, MST1R, and WDR70) in a time-dependent manner. Furthermore, Western blot analysis demonstrated that saffron treatment induced changes in the expression of other key genes (DNMT1, DNMT3b, MBD2, CD44, HDAC3, c-Myc, NF-kB, TNFα, AR, N-RAS, and PTEN) in prostate cancer cells. Collectively, our findings demonstrate the important mechanisms by which saffron mediates anti-tumor properties in prostate cancer. These findings suggest that the use of saffron supplements alongside standard treatment protocols may yield beneficial effects for individuals with prostate cancer.