The Protective Effect of Crocin on Rat Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells Exposed to Aluminum Chloride as an...

Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs) have the ability to self-renew and proliferate which gives them healing properties in various tissues. Aluminium chloride (AlCl₃) is a chemical compound with harmful effects on health; oxidative stress caused by Aluminium has been reported previously. Crocin, a major component of Crocus sativus (saffron), has antioxidant properties and has shown therapeutic potential. Researchers have been looking for ways to reduce the harmful effects of AlCl₃.

To investigate whether crocin can reduce AlCl₃ cytotoxicity, rat Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells (BM-MSCs) were isolated, cultured and divided into four experimental groups. The first group was the control, which was untreated cells. The second and third groups were treated with crocin (50, 100, 250, 500 μM) and AlCl₃ (20, 25, 30 mM) for 24 hr. The fourth group was pre-treated with crocin (250, 500 μM) for 24 hr and then treated with AlCl₃ (20 mM) overnight. Cytotoxicity was assessed using the MTT assay. Mineralization was evaluated by alizarin red staining. Sox-2 and E-cadherin expression were measured using real-time PCR.

The results showed that AlCl₃ caused cytotoxicity on BM-MSCs and decreased the mRNA expression of Sox-2 and E-cadherin, which are important for the maintenance of self-renewal and proliferation of BM-MSCs. In contrast, crocin protected the self-renewal characteristic of BM-MSCs by increasing Sox-2 expression and also preserved the proliferative effects on BM-MSCs by upregulating E-cadherin expression (***p≤0.001).

Overall, the study suggests that crocin can protect BM-MSCs from AlCl₃-induced cytotoxicity by upregulate Sox-2 expression and E-cadherin expression. This suggests that crocin may be a potential therapeutic agent for the treatment of AlCl₃-induced toxicity.