The effects of crocetin on the cardiac hypertrophy induced by long-term treatment with norepinephrine (NE) in rats have been investigated. The activities of matrix metalloproteinases (MMP-2 and MMP-9) have been assayed by gelatin SDS-PAGE zymography. The expressions of MMP-2 and MMP-9 were detected by RT-PCR. ATPase activity and hydroxyproline contents were measured with a commercial kit. The r...

Crocus sativus stigmas are the source of the saffron spice and accumulate the apocarotenoids crocetin, crocins, picrocrocin, and safranal, responsible for its color, taste, and aroma. Through deep transcriptome sequencing, we identified a novel dioxygenase, carotenoid cleavage dioxygenase 2 (CCD2), expressed early during stigma development and closely related to, but distinct from, the CCD1 dio...

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of extracts of Coptidis rhizoma, Phellodendri cortex and Gardeniae fructus, which are medicinal herbs in Orengedoku-to (Huanglin-Jie-Du-Tang in Chinese), and crocetin (a major component of Gardeniae fructus) on experimental elevation of aqueous flare in pigmented rabbits. To produce aqueous flare elevation, 0.5 microg/kg lipopolysaccharide (...

Crocins, the glucosides of crocetin, are present at high concentrations in saffron stigmas and accumulate in the vacuole. However, the biogenesis of the saffron chromoplast, the changes during the development of the stigma and the transport of crocins to the vacuole, are processes that remain poorly understood. We studied the process of chromoplast differentiation in saffron throughout stigma d...

objective: the present study was designed to investigate the putative antidepressant effects of crocin and crocetin, two major active ingredients of crocus sativus l. (saffron) using mice in two different regimens of acute and sub-acute administration. material and methods: in acute treatment, antidepressant-like activities of crocin and crocetin (10, 20 and 40 mg/kg, i.p.) were evaluated using...

Objective(s): Crocetin, one of the main substances of saffron extract, has anti-cancer effects. Drug resistance proteins (e.g. MRP1 and MRP2) are important reasons for the failure of cancer therapy. We intended to investigate the efficacy of crocetin on MRP1 and MRP2 activity in human ovarian cisplatin-resistant carcinoma cell line (A2780-RCIS).Materials and Methods: The cytotoxic effect of cro...

Cancer therapies are associated with increased infertility risk due to accelerated reproductive aging. Oxidative stress (OS) is a potential mechanism behind ovarian toxicity by cyclophosphamide (CPM), the most ovotoxic anticancer drug. An important sensor of OS is SIRT1, a NAD+-dependent deacetylase which regulates cellular defence and cell fate. This study investigated whether the natural caro...

Objective: The present study was designed to investigate the putative antidepressant effects of crocin and crocetin, two major active ingredients of Crocus sativus L. (saffron) using mice in two different regimens of acute and sub-acute administration. Material and Methods: In acute treatment, antidepressant-like activities of crocin and crocetin (10, 20 and 40 mg/kg, i.p.) were evaluated using...

OBJECTIVE(S) The present study reports the development and validation of a sensitive and rapid extraction method beside high performance liquid chromatographic method for the determination of crocetin in human serum. MATERIALS AND METHODS The HPLC method was carried out by using a C18 reversed-phase column and a mobile phase composed of methanol/water/acetic acid (85:14.5:0.5 v/v/v) at the fl...