Effects of crocin on inflammatory biomarkers and mental health status in patients with multiple sclerosis: A randomized, double-blinded clinical trial.

Autoimmune disease Immune dysregulation Neurodegenerative disease Neuroinflammation Neuropsychiatric Oxidative stress Saffron

Journal

Multiple sclerosis and related disorders
ISSN: 2211-0356
Titre abrégé: Mult Scler Relat Disord
Pays: Netherlands
ID NLM: 101580247

Informations de publication

Date de publication:
20 Jan 2024
Historique:
received: 27 12 2023
revised: 08 01 2024
accepted: 18 01 2024
medline: 3 2 2024
pubmed: 3 2 2024
entrez: 2 2 2024
Statut: aheadofprint

Résumé

Multiple sclerosis (MS), as a demyelinating disease correlated with inflammation and oxidative stress, affects the central nervous system and causes a wide range of complications, including psychiatric disorders. Considering the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties associated with the bioactive components of saffron, such as crocin (trans-crocetin bis(β-d-gentiobiosyl) ester), and their potential impact on ameliorating psychiatric symptoms, our study aimed to investigate the effect of crocin on biomarkers of inflammation, oxidative stress, and mental health, e.g., depression and anxiety in individuals with MS. Patients with MS were randomized into two groups, taking either 15 mg crocin tablets twice a day (n = 25; 30 mg/day) or placebo tablets (n = 25) for 8 weeks. The valid and reliable Beck depression and anxiety scale questionnaire was recorded, and fasting blood samples were collected to measure biomarkers, including high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), malondialdehyde (MDA), and nitric oxide (NO) at baseline and week 8 following the intervention. The data analysis using ANCOVA showed that supplementation with crocin for 8 weeks significantly lowered hs-CRP levels (p-value= 0.01). In addition, within-group comparisons showed crocin significantly decreased anxiety (p-value= 0.01). However, crocin did not affect serum MDA and NO after 8 weeks of intervention. Our findings suggest that crocin may keep promise in attenuating inflammation, evidenced by reducing hs-CRP in patients with MS. However, supplementation for 8 weeks may not be sufficient to improve mental health, and future clinical studies with higher sample sizes and various doses and durations are recommended.

Sections du résumé

BACKGROUND BACKGROUND
Multiple sclerosis (MS), as a demyelinating disease correlated with inflammation and oxidative stress, affects the central nervous system and causes a wide range of complications, including psychiatric disorders. Considering the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties associated with the bioactive components of saffron, such as crocin (trans-crocetin bis(β-d-gentiobiosyl) ester), and their potential impact on ameliorating psychiatric symptoms, our study aimed to investigate the effect of crocin on biomarkers of inflammation, oxidative stress, and mental health, e.g., depression and anxiety in individuals with MS.
METHOD METHODS
Patients with MS were randomized into two groups, taking either 15 mg crocin tablets twice a day (n = 25; 30 mg/day) or placebo tablets (n = 25) for 8 weeks. The valid and reliable Beck depression and anxiety scale questionnaire was recorded, and fasting blood samples were collected to measure biomarkers, including high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), malondialdehyde (MDA), and nitric oxide (NO) at baseline and week 8 following the intervention.
RESULTS RESULTS
The data analysis using ANCOVA showed that supplementation with crocin for 8 weeks significantly lowered hs-CRP levels (p-value= 0.01). In addition, within-group comparisons showed crocin significantly decreased anxiety (p-value= 0.01). However, crocin did not affect serum MDA and NO after 8 weeks of intervention.
CONCLUSION CONCLUSIONS
Our findings suggest that crocin may keep promise in attenuating inflammation, evidenced by reducing hs-CRP in patients with MS. However, supplementation for 8 weeks may not be sufficient to improve mental health, and future clinical studies with higher sample sizes and various doses and durations are recommended.

Identifiants

pubmed: 38306888
pii: S2211-0348(24)00033-6
doi: 10.1016/j.msard.2024.105454
pii:
doi:

Types de publication

Journal Article

Langues

eng

Sous-ensembles de citation

IM

Pagination

105454

Informations de copyright

Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

Declaration of competing interest The authors have no competing interests to declare.

Auteurs

Ebrahim Kouchaki (E)

Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran.

Hossein Rafiei (H)

College of Pharmacy and Nutrition, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.

Amir Ghaderi (A)

Department of Addiction Studies, School of Medical and Clinical Research Development Unit-Matini/Kargarnejad Hospital, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran.

Mohammad-Javad Azadchehr (MJ)

Trauma Research Center, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran.

Fateme Safa (F)

Department of Nutrition, Faculty of Public Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran.

Kosar Omidian (K)

College of Pharmacy and Nutrition, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.

Adeleh Khodabakhshi (A)

Department of Nutrition, Faculty of Public Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran; Student Research Committee, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran.

Farhad Vahid (F)

Nutrition and Health Group, Department of Precision Health, Luxembourg Institute of Health, Strassen, Luxembourg.

Bahador Rezapoor-Kafteroodi (B)

Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran.

Hamid-Reza Banafshe (HR)

Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran.

Nasim Safa (N)

Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran. Electronic address: safa.nacm@gmail.com.

Classifications MeSH