Saffron medicinal uses

Saffron is a very precious traditional Chinese medicine. It is not a specialty of China, but comes from Southwest Asia. It is also grown in our country. We generally use saffron for medicinal purposes. Of course, saffron also has industrial value, gardening appreciation value, and dietary value in health and diet therapy.

Saffron has many benefits for our body and can cure many diseases, especially for women. For women with amenorrhea, blood stasis and irregular menstruation, saffron is the most effective treatment. Saffron has other medicinal effects as well. Let us get to know them one by one.

1. Effects on liver and gallbladder. Saffron has a choleretic effect, and crocin can lower cholesterol and increase fat metabolism. It can be used in combination with traditional Chinese medicines such as hawthorn, cassia seed, and Alisma orientalis to treat fatty liver. Saffron improves microcirculation, promotes the secretion and excretion of bile, thereby reducing abnormally elevated globulin and total bilirubin, and can be used to treat cirrhosis after chronic viral hepatitis. Crocetin has a chemopreventive effect on early acute liver damage caused by toxic substances and has the potential to be used in the treatment of chronic cholecystitis.

2. Effects on the circulatory system. Saffron extract has a stimulating effect on breathing. Under conditions of hypoxia at normal pressure, it can enhance the oxygen metabolism function in cells, improve the heart's tolerance to hypoxia, and to a certain extent reduce the damage to myocardial cells caused by strenuous exercise, thus having a certain protective effect on the heart.

Intravenous injection of 0.24g/kg of the decoction can keep the blood pressure of anesthetized cats and dogs low for a long time and have a stimulating effect on breathing. When blood pressure is lowered, the volume of dog kidneys shrinks, indicating that renal vasoconstriction occurs, and the vasoconstriction effect is also observed on toad blood vessels. It has a significant inhibitory effect on the isolated heart of toad. The aqueous extract can cause the isolated hearts of toads and rats and the acute situ hearts of cats to stop beating rapidly and completely in diastole. The effect on the cardiovascular system is related to the large amount of potassium salt it contains. It has also been reported that perianth, stamens and pollen all have varying degrees of dilating effects on isolated coronary vessels.

3. Immunomodulatory effect. Saffron is clinically used to treat a variety of chronic diseases in the human body. Through its effects of promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory, it enhances the body's endurance and lymphocyte proliferation response, thereby improving the body's cellular immunity and humoral immunity, and plays a role in adjusting the flow of human qi and balancing the body's yin and yang.

4. Anti-tumor effect. Modern research has found that saffron preparations have significant anti-cancer capabilities.

Oral administration of saffron extract at 200 mg/kg has a significant inhibitory effect on mouse transplanted S180 sarcoma, Ehrlich ascites carcinoma (EAC) and Dow's lymphoma ascites (DLA), with the lifespan extension rates of tumor-bearing mice being 111.0%, 83.5% and 112.5%, respectively. In vitro tests showed that the extract had significant cytotoxicity to P3813, S180, EAC, and DLA tumors, and its mechanism was to inhibit DNA synthesis in tumor cells. Oral administration of 100 mg/kg for 30 consecutive days can significantly inhibit soft tissue sarcoma induced by subcutaneous injection of 20-methylcholanthrene (MCA) in mice. The incidence rate in the saffron group was 10%, while that in the control group was 100%. Subcutaneous application of the extract can also inhibit skin tumors in mice induced by dimethylbenzene anthracene (DMBA)/croton oil and reduce the formation of papilloma. Saffron extract can significantly prolong the lifespan of mice treated with cisplatin, and stigma extract can partially prevent the decrease in body weight and blood count of mice caused by cisplatin.

5. Effect on kidneys: It is believed that the pathogenesis of glomerulonephritis is closely related to platelets and the inflammatory mediators they release. Saffron has achieved significant therapeutic effects in interfering with animal models of nephritis. Saffron can keep renal capillaries unobstructed, increase renal blood flow, and promote the repair of inflammatory damage. It is best to take saffron to replenish blood and qi. Although it has side effects, it does not matter much as long as it is not taken in excess. At the same time, it is very effective for irregular menstruation, endocrine disorders, etc., and it also has anti-aging and beauty effects. It is recommended that all ladies follow the effects and eating methods of saffron, which can completely improve your skin tone and beautify your skin.

6. Effect on the blood system: Saffron hot water extract has a significant anti-coagulation effect. It can prolong plasma prothrombin time and activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT), inhibit ADP and collagen-induced platelet aggregation, and accelerate the fibrinolytic effect of urokinase and plasmin. The synthetic substrate decomposition method was used to study the concentration-dependent inhibition of saffron extract on the decomposition of the cyan-colored synthetic substrate (PS-944) caused by plasmin, with an IC50 of 24.5 mg/ml, and the inhibition was non-competitive inhibition.

Saffron extract inhibits the decomposition of fluorescent synthetic substrate (Glt-Gly-Arg-McA) caused by urokinase in a concentration-dependent manner, with an IC50 of 8.9 mg/ml, and the inhibition form is non-competitive inhibition. The aqueous extract of stamens can inhibit ADP-induced platelet aggregation in rats in vivo (800 mg/kg intravenous injection) and in vitro (final concentration of 87 mg/ml), while the alcohol extracts of stamens and petals have no obvious inhibitory effect. The active ingredient that inhibits platelet aggregation is adenosine. The water extract of the corm and its total saponins have the effect of inducing platelet aggregation in rats. Mice intraperitoneally injected with total saponins of the bulb (40g/kg, 80mg/kg) had a significant hemostatic effect 30 minutes later, and there was an obvious dose-effect relationship, which may be one of the hemostatic mechanisms of total saponins.

7. Effect on the uterus: The decoction has a stimulating effect on the in vitro and in vivo uterus of mice, guinea pigs, rabbits, dogs and cats. It can cause rhythmic contractions of the uterus, increase the tension and excitability of the uterus, and large doses may cause spasmodic contractions, making the pregnant uterus more sensitive. The intensity of the various extracts was as follows: decoction > ethanol extract > volatile component > ether extract. In the in vivo uterine experiment and uterine fistula experiment, the drug effect lasted for 4 hours after one dose. When the ethanol extract is applied in small doses to the uterus of non-pregnant rabbits, it mostly has an inhibitory effect. The alcohol extracts of stamens and corollas also have a stimulating effect on the isolated uterus of guinea pigs and pregnant rabbits. The uterine-stimulating effect of saffron can be partially blocked by ergotoxine ethanesulfonate, and atropine has no effect on it. Its action may be partly through the adrenergic system and partly directly on uterine muscle cells.

8. Therapeutic effect on experimental glomerulonephritis: Saffron injection 0.5ml/kg. Intravenous injection of 1 ml/kg (1 ml is equivalent to 1 g of crude drug) for 6 consecutive weeks has a therapeutic effect similar to that of benzyl imidazole (TXA synthetase inhibitor) on in situ glomerulonephritis in rabbits caused by cationic bovine serum albumin. It can significantly reduce the amount of urine protein, significantly alleviate pathological tissue damage, and accelerate the dissolution and absorption of immune complexes in the glomeruli.

Above we introduced what saffron is. Saffron has many functions, including food therapy, medicinal use, garden appreciation, and industrial use. We have specially analyzed eight aspects of saffron as a medicine, hoping that it will be helpful to everyone.