protective effects of crocin against streptozotocin-induced oxidative damage in rat striatum.

the study aimed to investigate the protective effects of crocin (cro) against streptozotocin (stz)-induced oxidative damage in rat striatum. animals were randomly divided into four groups (five each). group 1 (sham) were treated with normal saline (2 ml/kg, p.o.). group 2 (stz-lesioned or lesion) were injected with icv-stz (3 mg/kg bilaterally, on day 1 and 3) and treated with normal saline (2 ml/kg, p.o.) respectively, for 21 days. group 3 (sham+cro) were injected icv on day 1 and 3 with artificial csf and treated with crocin (100 mg/kg, p.o.) for 21 days. group 4 (lesion+cro) were injected with icv stz (3 mg/kg bilaterally, on day 1 and 3) and treated with crocin (100 mg/kg, p.o.) for 21 days. the homogenized striatum was used for measuring malondialdehyde (mda), and total thiol contents besides glutathione peroxidase (gpx) activity. crocin treatment resulted in a significant reduction in mda concentration as compared to the stz-lesioned rats. moreover, crocin produced a significant elevation in total thiol content and gpx activity, as compared with stz-lesioned group. the present findings provide evidence that crocin may have a therapeutic significance for neurodegenerative diseases such as alzheimer's disease (ad).