Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD): a novel biological role of saffron petal extracts as a modulator of phlogistic pathway via FBW7/NF-kB in Caco-2 cell line LPS-stimulated

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic pathology characterized by extensive inflammation, which causes a functional alteration of the intestinal barrier. Today most of the drugs applied for IBD have adverse consequences. In this scenario, the development of new therapeutic agents for the treatment of IBD is necessary. A new approach to develop effective therapeutic strategies is the study of natural compounds with anti-inflammatory properties. Saffron petals contain flavonolic glycosides (kaempferol), carotenoids (crocin and crocetin) and anthocyanin pigments, with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity. Recently, kaempferol and crocin identified in Saffron Petal Extract (SPE), has been able to reduce oxidative stress in intestinal epithelial cells. Our aim was to evaluate the therapeutic potential of SPE on inflamed human intestinal Caco2 cells that mimic the intestinal microenvironment. We have demonstrated that SPE, down-regulating the expression of the ubiquitine FBW7, inhibits the degradation of the IKB-α subunit and keeps NF-κB in the inactive state. This leads downstream to a reduced activation of inducible molecules (iNOS, COX-2 and HO-1) involved on intestinal inflammatory process. In conclusion, since FBW7 increases in colon tissue of IBD patients, SPE may represent an attractive and promising supplementary treatment for the therapeutic management of IBD with conventional therapies.