In another study about the therapeutic effects of crocin (an effective ingredient of saffron) in rats with RA, Liu et al. (2018) ▶ observed that the clinical activity indicators and inflammatory and oxidative markers like IL-6, IL-17 and TNF-α in the crocin-treated group, had a significant decrease compared to the control group. This evidence concerns the gene IL17A and rheumatoid arthritis.