Saffron: The Golden Spice with Therapeutic Properties on Digestive Diseases.

Saffron is a natural compound that has been used for centuries in many parts of the world as a food colorant and additive. It was shown to have the ability to mitigate various disorders through its known anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties. Several studies have shown the effectiveness of saffron in the treatment of various chronic diseases like inflammatory bowel diseases, Alzheimer's, rheumatoid arthritis as well as common malignancies of the colon, stomach, lung, breast, and skin. Modern day drugs generally have unwanted side effects, which led to the current trend to use naturally occurring products with therapeutic properties. In the present review, the objective is to systematically analyze the wealth of information regarding the potential mechanisms of action and the medical use of saffron, the "golden spice", especially in digestive diseases. We summarized saffron influence on microbiome, molecular pathways, and inflammation in gastric, colon, liver cancers, and associated inflammations.

Modulating Oxidative Stress Relieves Stress-Induced Behavioral and Cognitive Impairments in Rats.

Background: Persistent psychological stress often leads to anxiety disorders and depression. Benzodiazepines and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors are popular treatment options but have limited efficacy, supporting the need for alternative treatment. Based on our recent preclinical work suggesting a causal link between neurobehavioral deficits and elevated oxidative stress, we hypothesized that interventions that mitigate oxidative stress can attenuate/overcome neurobehavioral deficits. Methods: Here, we employed the rat social defeat model of psychological stress to determine whether increasing antioxidant levels using grape powder would prevent and/or reverse social defeat-induced behavioral and cognitive deficits. Furthermore, a hippocampal-derived HT22 cell culture model of oxidative stress was employed to identify the individual beneficial constituent(s) of grape powder and the underlying mechanism(s) of action. Results: Grape powder treatment prevented and reversed social defeat-induced behavioral and cognitive deficits and also decreased social defeat-induced increase in plasma corticosterone and 8-isoprostane (systemic and oxidative stress markers, respectively). And grape powder treatment replenished social defeat-induced depleted pool of key antioxidant enzymes glyoxalase-1, glutathione reducatse-1, and superoxide dismutase. Grape powder constituents, quercetin and resveratrol, were most effective in preventing oxidative stress-induced decreased cellular antioxidant capacity. Grape powder protected oxidative stress-induced cell death by preventing calcium influx, mitochondrial dysfunction, and release of cytochrome c. Conclusions: Grape powder treatment by increasing antioxidant pool and preventing cell damage and death prevented and reversed social defeat-induced behavioral and cognitive deficits in rats. Quercetin and resveratrol are the major contributors towards beneficial effects of grape powder.

Grape powder prevents cognitive, behavioral, and biochemical impairments in a rat model of posttraumatic stress disorder.

Previously, using the single-prolonged stress (SPS) rat model of posttraumatic stress disorder, we reported that moderate treadmill exercise, via modulation of oxidative stress-related mechanisms, rescued anxiety- and depression-like behaviors and reversed SPS-induced memory impairment. In this study using the SPS model (2-hour restrain, 20-minute forced swimming, 15-minute rest, and 1-2-minute diethyl ether exposure), we hypothesized that antioxidant rich grape powder (GP) prevents SPS-induced behavioral and memory impairment in rats. Male Sprague Dawley rats were randomly assigned into control (CON) (provided tap water), SPS (provided tap water), GP-SPS (provided 15 g/L GP in tap water for 3 weeks followed by SPS), or GP-CON (3 weeks of GP followed by CON exposure). Anxiety- and depression-like behaviors were significantly greater in SPS rats, when compared with CON- or GP-treated rats, and GP reversed these behavioral deficits. Single-prolonged stress rats made significantly more errors in both short- and long-term memory tests compared with CON- or GP-treated rats, which were prevented in GP-SPS rats. Grape powder prevented SPS-induced increase in plasma corticosterone level. Furthermore, brain-derived neurotrophic factor levels were significantly decreased in amygdala of SPS rats but not in GP-SPS rats compared with CON or (GP-CON) rats. In addition, GP significantly increased acetylated histone 3 and histone deacetylase 5 in hippocampus and amygdala of SPS rats as compared with CON or GP-CON rats. In conclusion, we suggest protective role of GP in SPS-induced behavioral, cognitive, and biochemical impairments in rats. Perhaps, epigenetic regulation of brain-derived neurotrophic factor enables GP-mediated prevention of SPS-induced deficits in rats.

Grape powder intake prevents ovariectomy-induced anxiety-like behavior, memory impairment and high blood pressure in female Wistar rats.

Diminished estrogen influence at menopause is reported to be associated with cognitive decline, heightened anxiety and hypertension. While estrogen therapy is often prescribed to overcome these behavioral and physiological deficits, antioxidants which have been shown beneficial are gaining nutritional intervention and popularity. Therefore, in the present study, utilizing the antioxidant properties of grapes, we have examined effect of 3 weeks of grape powder (GP; 15 g/L dissolved in tap water) treatment on anxiety-like behavior, learning-memory impairment and high blood pressure in ovariectomized (OVX) rats. Four groups of female Wistar rats were used; sham control, sham-GP treated, OVX and OVX+GP treated. We observed a significant increase in systolic and diastolic blood pressure in OVX rats as compared to sham-controls. Furthermore, ovariectomy increased anxiety-like behavior and caused learning and memory impairment in rats as compared to sham-controls. Interestingly, providing grape powder treated water to OVX rats restored both systolic and diastolic blood pressure, decreased anxiety-like behavior and improved memory function. Moreover, OVX rats exhibited an impaired long term potentiation which was restored with grape powder treatment. Furthermore, ovariectomy increased oxidative stress in the brain, serum and urine, selectively decreasing antioxidant enzyme, glyoxalase-1 protein expression in the hippocampus but not in the cortex and amygdala of OVX rats, while grape powder treatment reversed these effects. Other antioxidant enzyme levels, including manganese superoxide dismutase (SOD) and Cu/Zn SOD remained unchanged. We suggest that grape powder by regulating oxidative stress mechanisms exerts its protective effect on blood pressure, learning-memory and anxiety-like behavior. Our study is the first to examine behavioral, biochemical, physiological and electrophysiological outcome of estrogen depletion in rats and to test protective role of grape powder, all in the same study.