Trial reportNutrition journal2025
The effects of saffron supplementation on inflammation and hematological parameters in patients with sepsis: a randomized controlled trial.
Trial report in Nutrition journal, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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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.
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.
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Phytochemistry, Biological Activities, Molecular Mechanisms, and Toxicity of Saffron (Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundCritically ill patients suffering from sepsis are at an increased risk of morbidity and mortality due to its serious complications. Saffron as an herbal medicine has been proven to have anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative stress effects previously. Hence, this study aimed to determine how saffron supplementation affected inflammatory and hematological factors in patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) with sepsis.
methodsIn this double-blind clinical trial, 90 ICU sepsis patients with GCS lower than 13 were randomized to receive either an intervention tablet containing 100 mg of saffron or a placebo tablet containing 100 mg of corn starch for seven days. Before and after the intervention, clinical, inflammatory, hematological, and mortality parameters were assessed.
resultsAfter seven days, the saffron group showed a significantly decline from baseline compared to the placebo group in inflammatory markers, including CRP (-24.58 ± 22.16 vs. -2.42 ± 30.86; P < 0.001), ESR (-5.36 ± 28.75 vs. 24.29 ± 28.24; P < 0.001), IL-6 (-22.09 ± 25.22 vs. -4.02 ± 20.04; P < 0.001), IL-18 (-9.56 ± 9.31 vs. -0.89 ± 3.38; P < 0.001), and TNF-α (-2.52 ± 3.79 vs. -0.035 ± 2.35; P < 0.001). Regarding clinical outcomes, significant improvements were observed in APACHE II (-2.55 ± 5.47 vs. 0.78 ± 3.37; P = 0.003), SOFA (-1 ± 1.07 vs. -0.05 ± 1.53; P < 0.001), NUTRIC score (-1.2 ± 1.01 vs. 0.2 ± 0.87; P < 0.001), and WBC count (-4176.34 ± 4063.01 vs. 61.57 ± 4118.97; P < 0.001). Moreover, the effect sizes (Cohen's d) for these factors ranged from moderate to large, except for IL-6, which had a small effect size (d = -0.38). However, no significant differences were found between the groups in the Glasgow Coma Scale, FOUR Score, 28-day and 90-day mortality rates, or other hematological parameters (P > 0.05).
conclusionsSaffron administration in sepsis patients admitted to the ICU led to significant improvements in inflammatory markers and some clinical parameters. However, the clinical significance of these findings remains to be fully established.
trial registrationIranian Registry of Clinical Trials: IRCT20201129049534N8. It was registered on 17 March 2024.
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