Evaluating the Effect of Crocin on NRAS, KRAS, c-FOS, and c-JUN Genes Expressions in Lung Tissue of Cadmium-Treated Rats

Cadmium (Cd) is an environmental pollutant known to be toxic to lung tissue. Crocin is an active phytochemical of saffron with antioxidant properties. Because of this characteristic, it is hypothesized that crocin can reduce the harmful effects of toxic chemicals. The current study aimed to investigate the crocin intervention on the expression of NRAS, KRAS, c-FOS, and c-JUN genes in the lung tissues of Cd-treated rats. In this study, 40 Wistar rats (180±30 g) were randomly divided into four groups: the control group, received food and water; the crocin-treated group, received 15 mg/kg crocin orally; the Cd-treated group, received 20 mg/kg Cd by gastric gavage; and the complex group, treated by crocin and cadmium with previously mentioned concentrations. After eight weeks daily administered, the rats were euthanized, and their lungs were extracted to assess NRAS, KRAS, c-FOS, and c-JUN gene expressions by Real-Time PCR. Data were computed by GraphPad Prism (v.8). One-way ANOVA test was used as statistical analysis, and P<0.05 was considered statistically significant. The results revealed that the Cd consumption raised the expression of all four genes in lung tissue (c-JUN, KRAS P<0.001, NRAS P<0.01, and c-FOS P<0.05). Crocin significantly reduced the expression of c-JUN (P<0.0001), c-FOS, and NRAS (P<0.05) genes. The data obtained from the current study indicated that crocin could reduce the expression of c-FOS, c-JUN, and NRAS as vital players in cell proliferation.