title: Neuroprotective Activities of Saffron and Crocin.
abstract: We first considered that saffron is really safety food because it has a long-use history. The neuroprotective activities of saffron and its major constituent, crocin, are separately discussed in vitro and in vivo. We reviewed the inhibitory activities of crocin against PC-12 cell apoptosis. The oxidative stress decreased the cellular levels of glutathione (GSH) which is an inhibitor of neutral sphingomyelinase (N-SMase). Therefore, the level of GSH was assayed by the addition of crocin resulted in the activation of glutathione reductase (GR). It became evident that crocin treatment prevents the N-SMase activation resulting in the decrease of ceramide release. From these evidences we summarized the role of crocin for neuronal cell death. We used the ethanol-blocking assay system for learning and memory activities. The effect of saffron and crocin on improving ethanol-induced impairment of learning behaviors of mice in passive avoidance tasks has been clear. Further, we did make clear that saffron and crocin prevent the inhibitory effect of ethanol on long-term potentiation (LTP) in the dentate gyrus. Finally we found that 100 mg/kg of crocin gave non-rapid eye movement sleep (non-REM sleep) although mice were started to be active during night time.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Pharmaceutical Science, Fukuoka University, Fukuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: Shinji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Soeda
authors.affiliation: International Institute for Integrative Sleep Medicine, Tsukuba University, Tsukuba, Japan.
authors.forename: Kosuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Aritake
authors.affiliation: International Institute for Integrative Sleep Medicine, Tsukuba University, Tsukuba, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Urade
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Pharmaceutical Science, Nagasaki International University, Sasebo, Nagasaki, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Pharmaceutical Science, Nagasaki International University, Sasebo, Nagasaki, Japan. shoyama@niu.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Yukihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shoyama
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D002338:Carotenoids / Q000494:pharmacology*; D027622:Crocus / Q000737:chemistry*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects; D007858:Learning / Q000187:drug effects; D008568:Memory / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D051379:Mice; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects*; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D016716:PC12 Cells; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats
chemical_list: D018696:Neuroprotective Agents; D010936:Plant Extracts; D002338:Carotenoids; C029036:crocin
keywords: Crocin; Crocus sativus; Learning and memory; Neuroprotective activity; Non-REM sleep; Saffron