RT - Journal Article T1 - The Effect of the Saffron Intervention on NAFLD Status and Related Gene Expression in a Rat Model JF - MJIRI YR - 2023 JO - MJIRI VO - 37 IS - 1 UR - http://mjiri.iums.ac.ir/article-1-7602-en.html SP - 207 EP - 214 K1 - Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease K1 - Saffron K1 - Liver Enzymes K1 - Blood Lipids K1 - Liver Histopathology K1 - Insulin Resistance K1 - Inflammation K1 - Gene Expression AB - Background: According to the worldwide increasing prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), the present study aimed to investigate the mechanism effects of saffron consumption on preventing NAFLD in a rat model. Methods: In an experimental study, 12 rats were randomly divided into 2 groups to be evaluated in the prevention phase for 7 weeks. In the prevention phase, the animals were randomly assigned to either fed HFHS + 250 mg/kg saffron (S) or fed with HFHS. Afterward, parts of the liver were excised for histopathologic examination. Plasma concentrations of ALT, AST, GGT, ALP, serum lipids, insulin concentrations, plasma glucose, hs-CRP, and TAC were measured. Moreover, Also, the gene expression of 6 target genes was evaluated, including FAS, ACC1, CPT1 ،PPARα ،DGAT2, and SREBP 1-c at the beginning and end of the study. Also, the differences among groups were evaluated by the Mann-Whitney test for non-normal data and the independent t test for normal data. Results: The prevention phase groups have a significant elevation in body weight (P = 0.034) and food intake (P = 0.001) of the HFHS group versus HFHS + 250 mg/kg S group. Also, there was a significant difference between groups 1 and 2 for ALT (P = 0.011) and AST (P = 0.010), and TG (P = 0.040). The HFHS group had higher plasma levels of FBS (P = 0.001), insulin (P = 0.035), HOMA-IR (P = 0.032), and lower TAC (P = 0.041) versus the HFHS+ S group. Also, the difference between HFHS + 250 mg/kg S and HFHS for PPARα gene expression was significant (P = 0.030). Conclusion: The present study showed that consumption of saffron could prevent developing NAFLD in rats at least partially through modulation in gene expression of PPARα. LA eng UL http://mjiri.iums.ac.ir/article-1-7602-en.html M3 10.47176/mjiri.37.28 ER -