Uncovering the pharmacological mechanism of Carthamus tinctorius L. on cardiovascular disease by a systems pharmacology approach.
Yu G, Luo Z, Zhou Y, Zhang L, Wu Y, Ding L, Shi Y.
Biomed Pharmacother. 2019 Sep;117:109094. doi: 10.1016/j.biopha.2019.109094

Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) seed attenuates memory impairment induced by scopolamine in mice via regulation of cholinergic dysfunction and oxidative stress.
Kim JH, He MT, Kim MJ, Yang CY, Shin YS, Yokozawa T, Park CH, Cho EJ.
Food Funct. 2019 Jun 19;10(6):3650-3659. doi: 10.1039/c9fo00615j.

Effects of CD36 Genotype on Oral Perception of Oleic Acid Supplemented Safflower Oil Emulsions in Two Ethnic Groups: A Preliminary Study.
Burgess B, Melis M, Scoular K, Driver M, Schaich KM, Keller KL, Tomassini Barbarossa I, Tepper BJ.
J Food Sci. 2018 May;83(5):1373-1380. doi: 10.1111/1750-3841.14115

Seed-specific RNAi in safflower generates a superhigh oleic oil with extended oxidative stability.
Wood CC, Okada S, Taylor MC, Menon A, Mathew A, Cullerne D, Stephen SJ, Allen RS, Zhou XR, Liu Q, Oakeshott JG, Singh SP, Green AG.
Plant Biotechnol J. 2018 Oct;16(10):1788-1796. doi: 10.1111/pbi.12915.

Safflower (n-6) and flaxseed (n-3) high-fat diets differentially regulate hypothalamic fatty acid profiles, gene expression, and insulin signalling.
Fernandes MF, Tache MC, Klingel SL, Leri F, Mutch DM.
Prostaglandins Leukot Essent Fatty Acids. 2018 Jan;128:67-73. doi: 10.1016/j.plefa.2017.12.002.

The Impact of Virgin Coconut Oil and High-Oleic Safflower Oil on Body Composition, Lipids, and Inflammatory Markers in Postmenopausal Women.
Harris M, Hutchins A, Fryda L.
J Med Food. 2017 Apr;20(4):345-351. doi: 10.1089/jmf.2016.0114.

Safety

Acute Liver Failure Induced by Carthamus tinctorius Oil: Case Reports and Literature Review.
de Ataide EC, Reges Perales S, de Oliveira Peres MA, Bastos Eloy da Costa L, Quarella F, Valerini FG, Chueiri Neto F, Silveira Bello Stucchi R, de Fátima Santana Ferreira Boin I.
Transplant Proc. 2018 Mar;50(2):476-477. doi: 10.1016/j.transproceed.2018.01.010. Review.

Safflower oil is extracted from the Carthamus Tinctorius L. plant and is used in several industries.

Carthamus Tinctorius L. is widely used in traditional Chinese medicine in the treatment of cerebrovascular and cardiovascular disease. According to the theory of traditional Chinese medicine, it mainly promotes blood circulation and removes blood stasis (1).

Food

For the preparation of vegetable margarine, as a food flavorer, in kefir, in baked goods.

Medicine

For the extraction of linoleic acid and as an anti-inflammatory.

Cosmetic

In body creams, hands and more.

Anti-inflammatory and antioxidants substances present (2):

• Oleic acid from 55.12% to 83.26%
• Steal acid from 2.93% to 25.09%
• Linoleic acid from 14.09% to 19.06%

Safflower studies

References_______________________________________________

(1) Carthamus tinctorius L. ameliorates brain injury followed by cerebral ischemia-reperfusion in rats by antioxidative and anti-inflammatory mechanisms.  -  Fu PK, Pan TL, Yang CY, Jeng KC, Tang NY, Hsieh CL.  -  Iran J Basic Med Sci. 2016 Dec;19(12):1368-1375. doi: 10.22038/ijbms.2016.7925.

(2) Pressurized liquid extraction and chemical characterization of safflower oil: A comparison between methods.
Conte R, Gullich LM, Bilibio D, Zanella O, Bender JP, Carniel N, Priamo WL.  -  Food Chem. 2016

(3) Salvia miltiorrhiza and Carthamus tinctorius Extract Prevents Cardiac Fibrosis and Dysfunction after Myocardial Infarction by Epigenetically Inhibiting Smad3 Expression.  Yang J, Wang B, Li N, Zhou Q, Zhou W, Zhan Z.  Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2019 May 30;2019:6479136. doi: 10.1155/2019/6479136

(4) Acute Liver Failure Induced by Carthamus tinctorius Oil: Case Reports and Literature Review.
de Ataide EC, Reges Perales S, de Oliveira Peres MA, Bastos Eloy da Costa L, Quarella F, Valerini FG, Chueiri Neto F, Silveira Bello Stucchi R, de Fátima Santana Ferreira Boin I.
Transplant Proc. 2018 Mar;50(2):476-477. doi: 10.1016/j.transproceed.2018.01.010. Review