evaluation of therapeutic efficacy of stigma and petal extracts of crocus sativus l. on acetic acid-induced gastric ulcer in rats

Saffron (crocus sativus l.) has long been considered a medicinal plant in traditional persian medicine(tpm) due to its therapeutic properties. despite this interest, its effects on gastrointestinal disorders have notbeen completely taken into consideration. hence, this study aimed to evaluate the pharmacological activityof ethanolic extracts of saffron stigma (ss) and saffron petal (sp) in acetic acid-induced gastric ulcer in rats.the gastric ulcer model was imitated by the serosal application of acetic acid in male wistar rats. then, theanimals were orally fed with 100 mg/kg and 200 mg/kg of ethanolic extracts of ss or sp, omeprazole (40mg/kg), or saline for 12 days. the macroscopic and microscopic appearances of gastric ulcers and the levelsof malondialdehyde (mda), vascular endothelial growth factor (vegf), and prostaglandin e2 (pge2) ingastric tissues were assessed. the highest anti-ulcer activity was observed in the omeprazole-treated animalswith the lowest ulcer size (4.29 ± 1.78 mm2). ss could not reduce gastric ulcer size in rats. compared to theuntreated rats, sp treatment significantly decreased ulcer indices in a dose-dependent manner. the gastriclevels of pge2, vegf, and mda were significantly elevated in the untreated animals with gastric ulcerscompared to rats in the control group. the ss extract suppressed the elevated pge2 and vegf levels at bothdoses, while sp did not have a significant influence. both ss and sp treatments significantly amelioratedmda levels in rats with gastric ulcers. omeprazole treatment enhanced the pge2 level and suppressedmda contents, but it did not influence the vegf level. in conclusion, our findings demonstrated that thesaffron stigma has no significant effects on the gastric ulcer healing process, while its petals accelerate theprocess. this discrepancy can be attributed to the difference in the main secondary metabolites betweensaffron stigma and petals.