Statistical analysis
All the data of crocetin and control group except transcriptomic data were analyzed using a two-tailed unpaired t-test, and a p-value of less than 0.1 is considered statistically significant using the GraphPad Prism software (version 9.0.0 (121)), with statistical significance determined as P < 0.05 and checked for normal distribution. Outliers were excluded based on a Grubbs test with ɑ value set at a 0.05 significance level. Transcriptomics data were analysed using R (4.2.0), with Log 2-fold change (LFC) >0.3 in the gene expression significant at adjusted p-value <0.05. The categories significantly enriched (p-value < 0.05) were considered for GO and KEGG analysis.