Possible Interaction: Ethanol and Crocin

“Also we hypothesized that crocin , via intonation of CREB/BDNF and Akt/GSK signaling pathway, can inhibit alcohol induced neurodegeneration.”

“Further, we did make clear that saffron and crocin prevent the inhibitory effect of ethanol on long-term potentiation (LTP) in the dentate gyrus.”

“ Crocin (10 microM) did not affect the inhibition of non-NMDA response by 100 mM ethanol, but significantly blocked the inhibition of NMDA response by 10-50 mM ethanol.”

“In addition, we performed whole-cell patch recording with primary cultured rat hippocampal neurons, and confirmed that crocin blocked ethanol inhibition of inward currents evoked by application of NMDA.”

“These results suggest that crocin specifically antagonizes the inhibitory effect of ethanol on NMDA receptor-mediated responses in hippocampal neurons.”

“To explore mechanisms underlying the antagonism of crocin against ethanol , we investigated the effects of ethanol and crocin on synaptic potentials mediated by N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptors in the dentate gyrus of rat hippocampal slices.”

“We have previously found that crocin (crocetin di-gentiobiose ester) antagonizes the inhibitory effect of ethanol on long-term potentiation in the rat hippocampus in vivo and in vitro.”

“ Crocin (20 microM) did not affect the baseline synaptic responses, but significantly prevented the LTP-suppressing action of ethanol.”

“These in vitro observations suggest that crocin directly prevents the LTP-suppressing action of ethanol within the hippocampus.”

“blocked the LTP induced by application of tetanus (30 pulses at 60 Hz), but the LTP-blocking effect of ethanol was prevented by preadministration of crocin (51.2 nmol i.c.v.).”

“The consumption of ethanol enhanced the levels of caspase-3, -8, -9 and Bax/Bcl-2 ratio (mRNA and protein) but, western blot and real-time PCR data confirmed that crocin treatment prevented apoptosis induced by ethanol.”