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Research: BOLHASSANI and COLLEAGUES,
Listed in Issue 233
Abstract
BOLHASSANI and COLLEAGUES, (1)Department of Hepatitis and AIDS, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran. Electronic address: azam.bolhassani@yahoo.com ; (2)Department of Hepatitis and AIDS, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran; (3)Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran conduct a mini-review and describe biochemical and immunological activities and chemo-preventive properties of saffron and natural carotenoids as an anticancer drug.
Background
Saffron, a spice derived from the flower of Crocus sativus, is rich in carotenoids. Two main natural carotenoids of saffron, crocin and crocetin, are responsible for its colour.
Methodology
Preclinical studies have shown that dietary intake of some carotenoids have potent anti-tumour effects both in vitro and in vivo, suggesting their potential preventive and/or therapeutic roles in several tissues. The reports represent that the use of carotenoids without the potential for conversion to vitamin A may provide further protection and avoid toxicity.
Results
The mechanisms underlying cancer chemo-preventive activities of carotenoids include modulation of carcinogen metabolism, regulation of cell growth and cell cycle progression, inhibition of cell proliferation, anti-oxidant activity, immune modulation, enhancement of cell differentiation, stimulation of cell-to-cell gap junction communication, apoptosis and retinoid-dependent signalling. Taken together, different hypotheses for the antitumour actions of saffron and its components have been proposed such as a) the inhibitory effect on cellular DNA and RNA synthesis, but not on protein synthesis; b) the inhibitory effect on free radical chain reactions; c) the metabolic conversion of naturally occurring carotenoids to retinoids; d) the interaction of carotenoids with topoisomerase II, an enzyme involved in cellular DNA-protein interaction. Furthermore, the immunomodulatory activity of saffron was studied on driving toward Th1 and Th2 limbs of the immune system.
Conclusion
In this mini-review, we briefly describe biochemical and immunological activities and chemo-preventive properties of saffron and natural carotenoids as an anticancer drug.
References
Bolhassani A(1), Khavari A(2), Bathaie SZ(3). Saffron and natural carotenoids: Biochemical activities and anti-tumor effects. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1845(1):20-30. doi: 10.1016/j.bbcan.2013.11.001. Jan 2014. Epub Nov 21 2013.
Comment
The above research emanating from Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran summarizes the biochemical, immunological and chemo-preventive properties of saffron, including modulation of cancer metabolism, regulation of cell growth and cell cycle, cell proliferation inhibition, anti-oxidant and immune modulation activity which suggest its potential role as an anticancer drug.
