NOS2 and colitis: The anti-inflammatory effect of crocin has been shown by Kunihiro et al. They reported that dietary feeding of crocin (100 ppm and 200 ppm for 4 weeks) significantly suppressed mRNA expression of COX-2, iNOS, NF-κB, TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 in the colitis and colitis-associated colorectal carcinogenesis in male ICR mice (Figure 2) (93).