Effect of Crocin on Inflammatory Bowel Diseases

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) are among important gastrointestinal diseases in human and include ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. Although the prevalence of these diseases in developed countries is high, however, their prevalence is increasing in developing countries such as Iran, too. Treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases at the early stages is very important because of chronic inflammation and its complications on different parts of the body. One of the most important consequences of chronic inflammation is colitis-induced colon cancer. Saffron is a traditionally herbal drug used by people in Asia especially Iran. It has several beneficial effects on the body especially as anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer. In this paper, we reviewed the effect of crocin on inflammation process especially in inflammatory bowel diseases.