Table 2.
Characteristics of included trials.
| First author (publication year) | Country | RCT design | Participants | Sample size case/control | Mean age | Mean BMI (kg/m2) | Sex | Intervention of experimental group | Intervention of control group | Duration (weeks) | Statistical adjustments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kianbakht et al., 2011 | Iran | Parallel double-blind | Healthy | 45/44 | 21.8 | 21.5 | M | 100 mg/day saffron tablets | Placebo | 6 | — |
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| Mansoori et al., 2011 | Iran | Parallel double-blind | MDD | 10/10 | 38.85 | — | M/F | 30 mg/day saffron Capsule | Placebo | 4 | — |
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| Mohamadpour et al., 2013 | Iran | Parallel double-blind | Healthy | 22/22 | 31.1 | 24.9 | M/F | 20 mg/day crocin tablets | Placebo | 4 | — |
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| Mousavi et al., 2015 (a) | Iran | Parallel double-blind | Schizophrenia | 20/21 | 49.3 | — | M | 30 mg/day saffron Capsule | Placebo | 12 | — |
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| Mousavi et al., 2015 (b) | Iran | Parallel double-blind | Schizophrenia | 20/21 | 49.3 | — | M | 30 mg/day Crocin Capsule | Placebo | 12 | — |
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| Milajerdi et al., 2017 | Iran | Parallel double-blind | T2DM | 27/27 | 54.99 | 26.07 | M/F | 30 mg/day saffron Capsule | Placebo | 8 | Basal values (income, education, marriage, drug, job, sex, family numbers, WC, weight, BMI, age) |
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| Sepahi et al., 2018 (a) | Iran | Parallel double-blind | T2DM T1DM | 20/20 | 55.74 | — | M/F | 5 mg/day Crocin tablets | Placebo | 12 | — |
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| Sepahi et al., 2018 (b) | Iran | Parallel double-blind | T2DM T1DM | 20/20 | 56.63 | — | M/F | 15 mg/day Crocin tablets | Placebo | 12 | — |
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| Ebrahimi et al., 2019 | Iran | Parallel double-blind | T2DM | 40/40 | 54.1 | 29.9 | M/F | 100 mg/day saffron powder | Placebo | 12 | Baseline values (BMI, WC, durationof T2DM, typesof hypoglycemic drugs), physical activity, and usual dietary intake |
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| Moravej Aleal et al., 2019 | Iran | Parallel double-blind | T2DM | 32/32 | 52.95 | 28.15 | M/F | 30 mg/day saffron capsule | Placebo | 12 | — |
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| Karimi-Nazari et al., 2019 | Iran | Parallel double-blind | Prediabetes | 36/39 | 57.92 | 29.06 | M/F | 15 mg/day saffron tablets | Placebo | 8 | baseline values (sex, WC, weight, BMI, age, physical activity) |
T2DM: Type 2 diabetes, MDD: major depressive disorder, T1DM: type 1 diabetes, NAFLD: nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, M: male, F: female, WC: waste circumference, BMI: body mass index, BUN: blood urea nitrogen, Cr: creatinine.