Compositions based on saffron for the prevention and/or treatment of corneal dystrophies

#This application is a 35 U.S.C. 371 national stage filing from International Application No. PCT/IB2015/057203, filed Sep. 18, 2015, which claims priority to Italian Application No. MI2014A001621, filed Sep. 19, 2014, the teachings of which are incorporated herein by reference.

#The present invention is direct to a pharmaceutical, dietary and/or food composition, comprising saffron for use in the prevention and/or treatment of corneal dystrophies.

#The present invention is also direct to a combination comprising saffron and at least one antioxidant and to a pharmaceutical dietetic and/or food composition comprising said combination for use in the prevention and/or treatment of corneal dystrophies.

#Additional features and advantages of the invention will become more clearly apparent by the following description of some preferred embodiments thereof, given hereinbelow by way of illustration and not of limitation, with reference to the attached drawings. In such drawings:

#FIG. 1 is a graph illustrating the size of the damaged area (mm2), in the four experimental groups (A-D), over the course of the seven days following surgery;

#FIG. 2 is a graph illustrating the degree of opacity in the four experimental groups (A-D), over the course of the seven days following surgery.

#The following examples are intended to better understand the invention, without in any way limiting it.

#It has been demonstrated that administration of a composition comprising effective doses of saffron to a patient suffering from epithelial basement membrane dystrophy was effective in the treatment of such disease.

#The epithelial basement membrane dystrophy had been diagnosed based on clinical manifestations of recurrent corneal erosions and infections that the patient had suffered for several years prior to start drug-based treatment.