Table 1.

Antidotal effects of saffron and its main constituents against natural toxins

Toxin	In vitro/In vivo	Constituents	Results	Ref. NO
Snake venom	Swiss albino male mice	Crocin	Suppression of oxidative stress, hematological alteration and pro inflammatory cytokine levels	[37]
Snake venom	Isolated platelet	Crocin	Inhibition of oxidative stress and platelet apoptosis	[41]
Snake venom	Isolated neutrophils	Crocin	Inhibition of oxidative stress and neutrophil apoptosis	[42]
AflatoxinB1	Male Wistar rats	Crocetin (0.1 mg/day/rat)	Reduction of AST, ALT, AlP, and γ-GGT, Elevation of GSH, Reduction of the formation of hepatic AFB1-DNA adducts	[38]
AflatoxinB1	Female Sprague-Dawley rats	Crocin dyes (50 mg/kg/day, 3 days)	Reduction of AST, ALT, AlP, γ-GGT and LDH	[47]
Lipopolysaccharide	mice	Crocetin (50 and 100 mg/kg, gavage) for 24 hr	Reduction of lung edema, Increase in SOD, Decrease in MPO, Attenuation of mRNA and protein expressions of IL-6, MCP-1, TNF-α, P-IκB and NF-κB	[39]
Lipopolysaccharide	RAW 264.7 macrophages	Crocin	Suppression of iNOS induction of HO-1 expression via Ca2+/calmodulin-CAMK4-PI3K/Akt-Nrf2	[45]
Lipopolysaccharide	Rabbit	Crocetin	Improve of DIC-related haemostatic indices such as platelet blood counts, blood plasma fibrinogen and protein C concentration, Amelioration of DIC-associated disease and fibrin deposition in the glomeruli	[43]
Lipopolysaccharide	RAW 264.7 macrophages	Crocin	Inhibition of the PGE(2) products, Prevention of NF-kappaB p50 and p65 subunits	[44]
3-nitropropionic acid	Isolated striatal synaptosomes	Saffron extract (1 mg/kg/day, for 5 days, IP.)	Decrease of lipid peroxidation, Improve of mitochondrial function	[40 ]