Investigation of the effect of Crocus sativus L. (Saffron) on skin cancer

Crocus sativus L. (saffron) is known to be used for treatment in both alternative medicine and modern medicine. It is known to be used in the treatment of primarily cardiovascular system, pulmonary system problems, gastrointestinal system problems, gout symptoms and treatment of clinical findings such as anorexia, insomnia and erectile dysfunction. Recently, it is known that it is frequently used in the treatment of some types of cancer, in the management of hypertension and high cholesterol and in some clinical use-specific hair tonics. In this context, it is planned to investigate how the treatment of skin cancer cells with saffron will affect cell viability, caspase 3, bax, bcl-2, wee1, gadd153, grp78 and AIF (apoptosis inducing factor) protein levels and activities. For this purpose, we prepared human skin cancer cell culture and after treating these cells with saffron, caspase-3, bax, bcl-2, wee1, gadd153, grp78 and AIF protein levels were analyzed by ELISA. As a result of our analysis, it was found that skin cancer cell viability decreased as a result of increased saffron treatment. While the level of bcl-2 protein, which is one of the important indicators showing decreased apoptosis, decreased, on the contrary, bax, caspase-3, gadd153, grp78, AIF and wee1 levels, which express increased cancer cell death, increased. This study revealed that saffron has a positive effect, especially in the treatment of skin cancer. It has been demonstrated that saffron may exert a synergistic effect with various chemotherapeutics while directing the cancer cell to death. Key Words: bax, bcl-2, caspase-2, Saffron, Skin Cancer.