Effect of Safflower Flower (Carthamus tinctorius L) Extract on Serum Superoxide Dismutase Activity in Rats

In recent years, due to side effects of chemical drugs, some people hsve turned to traditional medicine. Safflower is a medicinal plant that is used as a relatively cheap dye for making sweets and cooking in addition to its therapeutic effects. Superoxide dismutase (SOD) is one of the important enzymatic antioxidants that plays a role in fighting reactive oxygen species .In this study, the effects of safflower flower on serum activity of SOD in male wistar rats were studied to determine the adverse and beneficial effects of the plant on this important enzymatic antioxidant.

Sixty rats were divided into four groups consisting of three experimental groups and one controle group. The extract of safflower at concentrations of 100, 200 and 300 mg/kg body weight was subcutaneously injected to rats of experimental groups 1, 2 and 3, respectively, for two periods of 14 and 28 days, and then blood samples were collected from their hearts and serum SOD level was measured spectrophotometrically.

SOD level increased after adminstration of safflower extract at low and medium doses in the short term and at hight doses in the long term.

The safflower extract has beneficial effects on SOD, with no adverse effects on this enzyme at different doses.