Figure 3.

Beneficial effects of crocin and safranal molecules on inflammation, oxidative stress and apoptosis. In different cellular and animal models, crocin molecules counteract inflammation by reducing the production of COX1 and 2 as well as PGE2, oppose oxidative stress by decreasing the production of ROS and iNOS and by stimulating antioxidant defenses (increase in GSH, GPx, SOD and CAT levels). As for safranal, it reduces the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines and reduces oxidative stress stimulated by H₂O₂. Moreover, crocins induce apoptosis, while safranal activates or inhibits cell death, depending on the models used. The signaling pathways on which these molecules act are still not well known but the PI3K/Akt and MAPK/ERK pathways could be involved. ↗ means increase, ↘ means decrease.