www.scholarsresearchlibrary.com t Available online a Scholars Research Library Der Pharmacia Lettre, 2016, 8 (13):25-29 (http://scholarsresearchlibrary.com/archive.html) ISSN 0975-5071 USA CODEN: DPLEB4 25 Scholar Research Library Neuroprotective effects of Crocus Sativus L. and its main constituents Fariborz Samini 1 and Saeed Samarghndian 2* 1 Department of Neurosurgery, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad 8564-917794, Iran 2 Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Neyshabur University of Medical Sciences, Neyshabur, Iran _____________________________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACT Crocus sativus L. (C. sativus), commonly known as saffron, is used as a food additive, preservative and medicinal herb. It has been considered as an alternative treatment for neurodegenerative diseases. C. sativus’ medicinal effects are associated to its major ingredients including crocin, crocetin and safranal. This study found that the neuroprotective effects of C. sativus and its major ingredients may be related to their antioxidant and anti- inflammation effects. Keywords: Crocus sativus; crocins; crocetin; safranal; neuroprotective _____________________________________________________________________________________________ INTRODUCTION C. sativus is the main part of the plant which used in traditional medicine for treatment of various diseases and recent biomedical finding has been focused on its therapeutic effects. Based on the traditional and modern biomedical findings, the plant and its constituents may be effective treatments for neurodegenerative disorders. The therapeutic effects of C. sativus stigma could be related to its main ingredients such as crocins, crocetin, picrocrocin and safranal [1]. MATERIALS AND METHODS Online literature resources were checked using different search engines such as Medline, Pubmed, Iran medex, Scopus, and Google Scholar from 1980 to 2016 to identify articles, editorials, and reviews about the neuroprotective effects of C. sativus and its main constituents. NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASES Medicinal herbs and their active ingredients contain bioactive substances that act through antioxidants activities [2- 31]. Recently, numerous traditional medicines have been found to possess potential neuroprotective effects by scavenging ROS and detoxifying potent genotoxic oxidants, and have attracted considerable interest as potential candidates for the development of novel neuroprotective drugs [32-37]. Saffron, the dried stigmas of the flowers of saffron (Crocus sativus L., Iridaceae), is widely used in human applications and has commercial value for a long time. Greece, along with India, Iran, Spain, Azerbaijan and Morocco, is one of the principal world saffron producers [5]. It has been reported that saffron and its ingredients have hypolipidemic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and anticancer effects, moreover, this is applicable for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases [5]. Neuroinflammation is associated to the activation of microglia and release of cytokines. Microglial cells acts main roles in immune and inflammatory responses in the central nervous system. α-Crocin (20 mg/kg) had protective effects against traumatic brain injury (TBI) in mice, by amelioration of neurological severity score (NSS) and brain edema, decrease in microglial activation, release of several pro-inflammatory cytokines, and decrease in cell apoptosis [38]. A neuroprotective effect of crocins was also observed by a decrease in production of TNF-α and IL-