Saffron: New Option in Alzheimer’s Disease Treatment

Introduction: Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder associated with aging and the main etiology of dementia worldwide. Despite the immense research on this disease, only a few drugs capable of delay the progression of the disease are currently available. Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) has been commonly used as a medicinal plant, in food preparation and currently has vast therapeutic traits attributed to it.Material and methods: The strategy of the search was based on a focused literature review. Databases used to identify the most relevant articles included Google Scholar and PubMed. Search keywords used in variable forms included: “Alzheimer's Disease”, “crocetin”, “saffron”, “safranal” and “crocin”. Papers published in the last decade or related publications were chosen for this review article.Results: In vitro and in vivo preclinical studies have explained the efficacy of saffron on cognitive disturbance in animal models of AD, emphasizing that crocin seems to be capable of modifying Aβ and tau protein aggregation, decreasing oxidative stress and settting glutamate levels. Clinical studies have demonstrated that the impacts of saffron on cognitive impairment were not distinct from those produced by memantine and donepezil, also possessed a better safety profile.Conclusion: Saffron and its compounds should be further investigated due to consider them safer alternatives in AD treatment

Keywords:

Neurodegenerative disorders , Alzheimer's Disease , Saffro , Crocin