Saffron Reduced Toxic Effects of its Constituent, Safranal, in Acute and Subacute Toxicities in Rats

BACKGROUND: Saffron and its constituents are widely used around the world as a spice and medicinal plant. Different constituents in medicinal herbs are thought to have the potential to induce useful and/or adverse effects. So, efforts have been made to find the best and most valuable tools to reduce their adverse effects. OBJECTIVES: According to Iranian traditional medicine (ITM), it is believed that administration of whole herbs exhibits more activity and fewer side effects than isolated constituents. Since toxicological studies have indicated that safranal is more toxic than other active components in saffron stigma, thus this study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of co-administration of saffron extract and safranal in acute and sub-acute toxicities in rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In acute toxicity, rats received safranal (1.2 mL/kg, IP) plus saffron aqueous extract (25-100 mg/kg, IP). One and four days after the treatment, percentage of mortality was assessed. In subacute toxicity, rats were randomly divided into six groups. Group 1) safranal (0.2 mL/kg, IP), Groups 2, 3 and 4) safranal plus saffron aqueous extract (5, 10 and 20 mg/kg, IP) Groups 5 and 6) Paraffin and normal saline, as solvents of safranal and saffron aqueous extract, respectively. Treatments were continued for 21 days. For sub-acute toxicity, the percentages of lethality as well as some biochemical parameters were evaluated. RESULTS: Our results showed that four days co-treatment of safranal and saffron significantly reduced mortality, so that the effect was more obvious in lower doses. Sub-acute toxicity studies showed that saffron could increase survival in rats so that no mortality was observed at dose of 10 mg/kg. Our data also indicated that the levels of triglyceride, BUN and ALT significantly increased after sub-acute interaperitoneal (IP) administration of safranal (0.2 mL/kg/day) and co-treatment of saffron aqueous extract (5 and 10 mg/kg) plus safranal significantly improved all toxic effects of safranal on biochemical parameters. CONCLUSIONS: The co-administration of saffron aqueous extract and safranal reduced toxic effects of safranal in acute and sub-acute toxicities.