Dietary saffron reduced the blood pressure and prevented remodeling of the aorta in L-NAME-induced hypertensive rats

Zohreh Nasiri; Hamid Reza Sameni; Abedin Vakili; Morteza Jarrahi; Mahdi Zahedi Khorasani

Dietary saffron reduced the blood pressure and prevented remodeling of the aorta in L-NAME-induced hypertensive rats

Iran J Basic Med Sci. 2015 Nov;18(11):1143-6.

Authors

Zohreh Nasiri¹, Hamid Reza Sameni², Abedin Vakili¹, Morteza Jarrahi¹, Mahdi Zahedi Khorasani¹

Affiliations

¹ Research Center and Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Semnan, Iran.
² Neural Stem Cells Research Center and Department of Anatomical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Semnan, Iran.

PMID: 26949504
PMCID: PMC4764118

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of nutritional saffron (Crocus sativus L.) stigma hydroalcoholic extract on blood pressure (BP) and histology of the aorta in normotensive and hypertensive rats.

Materials and methods: Saffron (200 mg/kg/day) was given orally for 5 weeks to normotensive and hypertensive rats. Hypertension was induced by NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME; 40 mg/kg/day) administration in drinking water, and BP was measured weekly. Histological examination of the thoracic aorta included staining with hematoxylin and eosin, orcein, and periodic acid Schiff methods.

Results: Saffron had no effect on normotensive rats, but on hypertensive rats, prevented BP elevation form the third week of treatment (P<0.001). Furthermore, saffron reduced the cross-section area, media thickness, and elastic lamellae number of the aorta (P<0.05).

Conclusion: Nutritional saffron prevented BP increases and remodeling of the aorta in hypertensive rats. It may be useful for preventing hypertension.

Keywords: Aorta; Histology; Hypertension; L-NAME; Saffron.