Saffron and Parkinson Disease: New Therapeutic Candidate

Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disorder with motor symptoms linked to the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the brain that causes unintended movements, such as shaking, stiffness, and difficulty with balance and coordination. Saffron(crucus), a common herb in our country, Iran known as a medicinal plant that has many therapeutic effects include cytoprotective effect on human neuronal cells and protective effects on the progression of PD disease that can be used to treat PD.Methods: We conducted an electronic literature search to find articles on the neuroprotective effects of saffron in PD. We searched three data resources: “PubMed,” “Web of Science,” and “Google Scholar.” Our search designations were “[saffron (Title/Abstract)] AND [Parkinson disease (Title/Abstract) OR Parkinson’s disease (Title/Abstract)].”Results: Despite observing an overall down-regulation of broad, generic pathways relating to cell damage and death, the results suggested significant up-regulation of specific stress-inducible pathways, such as Fas and TNFR۱ signaling. In addition to concerted changes across molecular networks, we also observed various gene expression changes that would usually be associated with a stress response. Moreover, findings provided evidence in support of the idea that saffron might indeed act as a mild stressor, and that this mechanism of action might play an important role in its capacity to induce a neuroprotective response.Conclusion: In summary, increasing evidence points towards the potential neuroprotective actions of saffron and other dietary phytochemicals in the context of neurodegenerative disease. Previous explanations for this beneficial effect have focused largely on the strong antioxidant capabilities of saffron, but there is now evidence to suggest that saffron can act by modulating the brain transcriptome in the absence of an insult.

Keywords:

Neurodegenerative disorders , Parkinson disease , saffron , crocus.