There is experimental evidence that saffron not only alleviates I/R-induced left ventricular dysfunction and MI size, but also reduces the levels of Bax, caspase 3, miR-34a and endoplasmic reticulum stress biomarkers (GRP78 and CHOP), while increasing the levels of Bcl-2, Sirt1, Nrf2 and HO-1. The gene discussed is HMOX1; the disease is myocardial infarction.