Evidence map›Paper›PMID 19838862›Full record

Trial reportPsychopharmacology2010

A 22-week, multicenter, randomized, double-blind controlled trial of Crocus sativus in the treatment of mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease.

Shahin Akhondzadeh, Mehdi Shafiee Sabet, Mohammad Hossein Harirchian, Mansoreh Togha, Hamed Cheraghmakani, Soodeh Razeghi, Seyyed Shamssedin Hejazi, Mohammad Hossein Yousefi, Roozbeh Alimardani, Amirhossein Jamshidi and 5 more

Abstract readClinical Trial, Phase IIComparative StudyMulticenter Study
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Psychopharmacology, 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 93 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
93citing papers in PubMed, 6 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

93 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
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  4. Effects of saffron (Crocus sativus L.) on cognitive function. A systematic review of RCTs.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2020
    Pooled it
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  8. Saffron therapy for the treatment of mild/moderate age-related macular degeneration: a randomised clinical trial.Graefe's archive for clinical and experimental ophthalmology = Albrecht von Graefes Archiv fur klinische und experimentelle Ophthalmologie · 2019
    Trial
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  15. Adverse Events of Saffron (Health science reports · 2026
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  19. Review
  20. Review

33 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

15 authors.

Shahin AkhondzadehPsychiatric Research Center, Roozbeh Psychiatric Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, South Kargar Street, Tehran 13337, Iran. s.akhond@neda.net
Mehdi Shafiee Sabet
Mohammad Hossein Harirchian
Mansoreh Togha
Hamed Cheraghmakani
Soodeh Razeghi
Seyyed Shamssedin Hejazi
Mohammad Hossein Yousefi
Roozbeh Alimardani
Amirhossein Jamshidi
Shams-Ali Rezazadeh
Aboulghasem Yousefi
Farhad Zare
Atbin Moradi
Ardalan Vossoughi

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

rationaleThere is increasing evidence to suggest the possible efficacy of Crocus sativus (saffron) in the management of Alzheimer's disease (AD).

objectiveThe purpose of the present investigation was to assess the efficacy of C. sativus in the treatment of patients with mild-to-moderate AD.

methodsFifty-four Persian-speaking adults 55 years of age or older who were living in the community were eligible to participate in a 22-week, double-blind study of parallel groups of patients with AD. The main efficacy measures were the change in the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale-cognitive subscale and Clinical Dementia Rating Scale-Sums of Boxes scores compared with baseline. Adverse events (AEs) were systematically recorded. Participants were randomly assigned to receive a capsule saffron 30 mg/day (15 mg twice per day) or donepezil 10 mg/day (5 mg twice per day).

resultsSaffron at this dose was found to be effective similar to donepezil in the treatment of mild-to-moderate AD after 22 weeks. The frequency of AEs was similar between saffron extract and donepezil groups with the exception of vomiting, which occurred significantly more frequently in the donepezil group.

conclusionThis phase II study provides preliminary evidence of a possible therapeutic effect of saffron extract in the treatment of patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease. This trial is registered with the Iranian Clinical Trials Registry (IRCT138711051556N1).

Indexed as

AgedAlzheimer DiseaseCholinesterase InhibitorsCrocusDonepezilDouble-Blind MethodFemaleHumansIndansIranMalePiperidinesPlant ExtractsPsychiatric Status Rating ScalesSeverity of Illness IndexCholinesterase InhibitorsDonepezilIndansPiperidinesPlant Extracts

Identifiers

PMID19838862

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.