The effect of Safranal on lipid peroxidation and hippocampal tissue damage following intracerebroventricular injection of colchicine in the rat

Safranal is the main component of crocus sativus. It has wide variety of properties. Until now, many studies have been performed to determine the effect of safranal on CNS. In this study, we investigated the effect of safranal in lipid peroxidation and histological changes of the hippocampus following intracerebroventricular injection of colchicine in the rat.

40 male rats were randomly divided into 5 groups as follows: 1-Sham, 2-Sham+Safranal at a dose of 50 mg/kg, 3-Colchicine, 4-Colchicine+Safranal at a dose of 10 mg/kg, and 5- Colchicine+Safranal at a dose of 50 mg/kg. Model of injury was created by injection of colchicine bilaterally into the brain ventricles through stereotaxic surgery. Then, safranal was administered 2 days before till 7 days after the surgery. In the third week after surgery, malondialdehyde (MDA) was evaluated in hippocampal homogenate. The number of neurons was also evaluated by nissl staining in CA1 and CA3 regions.

The results showed safranal treatment at a dose of 50 mg/kg significantly reduces hippocampal MDA versus untreated colchicine group. However, histopathological assessment of the hippocampus did not show any significant changes between the groups.

The findings of this study indicate the effect of safranal in reduction of hippocampal MDA as a lipid peroxidation by-product following intracerebroventricular colchicine.