Orabona Ciriana, Orecchini Elena, Volpi Claudia, Bacaloni Federico, Panfili Eleonora, Pagano Cinzia, Perioli Luana, Belladonna Maria Laura
Section of Pharmacology, Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Perugia, Piazza Severi 1, 06129 Perugia, Italy.
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Perugia, Via del Liceo 1, 06123 Perugia, Italy.
Pharmaceutics. 2022 Jun 17;14(6):1290. doi: 10.3390/pharmaceutics14061290.
The dried stigmas of L. (Iridaceae) are traditionally processed to produce saffron, a spice widely used as a food coloring and flavoring agent, which is important in the pharmaceutical and textile dye-producing industries. The labor-intensive by-hand harvesting and the use of only a small amount of each flower cause saffron to be the most expensive spice in the world. sp. petals are by-products of saffron production and represent an interesting raw material for the preparation of extracts intended for health protection in the perspective of a circular economy. In the present study, ethanolic extract from L. petals ( L. petal extract, PE) was tested on macrophages by in vitro models of inflammation and osteoclastogenesis. The extract was found to be endowed with anti-inflammatory activity, significantly reducing the nitric oxide production and IL-6 release by RAW 264.7 murine cells. Moreover, PE demonstrated an anti-osteoclastogenic effect, as revealed by a complete inhibition of tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP)-positive osteoclast formation and a decreased expression of key osteoclast-related genes. This study, which focuses on the macrophage as the target cell of the bioactive extract from L. petals, suggests that the petal by-product of saffron processing can usefully be part of a circular economy network aimed at producing an extract that potentially prevents bone disruption.
番红花属（鸢尾科）植物干燥的柱头传统上用于生产藏红花，藏红花是一种广泛用作食品着色剂和调味剂的香料，在制药和纺织染料生产行业中很重要。由于手工采摘劳动强度大且每朵花仅使用少量柱头，藏红花成为世界上最昂贵的香料。番红花属植物的花瓣是藏红花生产的副产品，从循环经济的角度来看，是制备用于健康保护提取物的有趣原料。在本研究中，通过炎症和破骨细胞生成的体外模型，对番红花属植物花瓣的乙醇提取物（番红花属植物花瓣提取物，PE）进行了巨噬细胞测试。发现该提取物具有抗炎活性，可显著降低RAW 264.7小鼠细胞产生的一氧化氮和释放的IL-6。此外，PE表现出抗破骨细胞生成作用，这通过完全抑制抗酒石酸酸性磷酸酶（TRAP）阳性破骨细胞形成以及关键破骨细胞相关基因表达降低得以体现。这项以巨噬细胞作为番红花属植物花瓣生物活性提取物靶细胞的研究表明，藏红花加工的花瓣副产品可有效地成为旨在生产可能预防骨质破坏提取物的循环经济网络的一部分。
