Milk Thistle (Silymarin, blessed thistle, Chardon Marie)

Milk Thistle (Silymarin) is reported to be an anti-inflammatory and mast cell stabilizer that helps protect the liver against toxin, drugs, and the affects of alcohol (Better Nutrition for Today's Living, March 1993).I . Two capsules of 100mg extract of milk thistle (Silybum marianum) containing 70% silymarin (ie 140mg of silymarin) are normally taken twice or three times a day. European research shows that it stimulates regeneration of liver cells and protects them from toxic injury" It is usually stocked in health food stores under the names milk thistle, silybum, or silymarin.

From the Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine Michael Murray, N.D. and Joseph Pizzorno, N.D.

The common milk thistle contains some of the most potent liver protective substances known, a mixture of three flavanolignins colelctively referred to as silymarin. (30-33) The concentration of silymarin is highest in the fruit, but it is also found in the seeds and leaves.

Silymarin's effect in preventing liver destruction and enhancing liver function relates largely to its ability to inhibit the factors that are responsible for hepatic damage, i.e., free radicals and leukotrienes, coupled with an ability to stimulate liver protein synthesis. (30-33)

Silymarin prevents free radical damage by acting as an antioxidant. Silymarin is many times more potent in antioxidant activity than vitamin E. Silymarin not only prevents the depletion of glutathione (GSH) induced by alcohol and other liver toxins, but it was shown to increase the basal GSH of the liver by 35 per cent over controls in one study. This is extremely useful when exposure to toxic substances is high, due to glutathione's vital role in detoxification reactions.

The protective effect of silymarin against liver damage has been demonstrated in a number of experimental and clinical studies. (30-38) Experimental liver damage in animals can be produced by such diverse toxic chemicals as carbon tetrachloride, amanita toxin, galactosamine and praseodymium nitrate. Silymarin has been shown to protect against liver damage by all of these agents. (30-33)

Another way in which the liver can be damaged is by the action of leukotrienes. These compounds are produced by the transfer of oxygen to a polyunsaturated fatty acid. This reaction is catalysed by the enzume lipoxygenase. Silybum components inhibit this enzyme, thereby inhibiting the formation of these damaging compounds.

Perhaps the most interesting effect of silybum components on the liver is their ability to stimulate protein synthesis. (30-33) The result is an increase in the production of new liver cells to replace the damaged old ones. This demonstrates that silymarin exerts both a protective and restorative effect on the liver.

In human studies, silymarin has been shown to have positive effects in treating liver diseases of various kinds, including cirrhosis, chronic hepatitis, fatty infiltration of the liver (chemical and alcohol induced fatty liver) and inflammation of the bile duct. (32-38) The therapeutic effect of silymarin in all of these disorders has been confirmed by histological (biopsy), clinical and laboratory data. Silymarin is especially effective in the treatment and prevention of toxic chemical or alcohol induced liver damage. (32-38)

REFERENCES:

30. Hikino, H. Kiso, Y., Wagner, H. and Fiegig, M., "Antihepatotoxic actions of flavonolignans from Silybum marianum fruits", Planta Medica, 1984, 50, pp 248-50
31.Vogel, G., Trost, W., Braatz, R., et al., "Studies on pharmacodynamics, site and mechanism of action of silymarin the antihpatotoxic principle from Silybum marianum (L.) Gaert"., Arzneim-Forsch, 1975, 25, pp 179-85
32. Wagner, H., Antihepatotoxic flavonoids", in Cody, V., Middleton, E. and Harbourne, J.D. (eds), Plant flavinoids in Biology and Medicine: Biochemical, Pharmacological and Structure-Activity relationships, Alan R. Liss, New York, NY 1986, pp545-5
33. Wagner, H., "Plant constituents with antihepatotoxic activity", in Beal, J.L. and Reinhard, E. (eds) Natural Products as Medicinal Agents, Hippokrates-Verlang, Stuttgart, 1981
34. Sarre, H., "Experience in the treatment of chronic hepatopathies with silymarin", Arzneim-Forsch, 1971, 21, pp 1,209-12
35. Canini, F., Bartolucci, A., Cristallini, E., et al., "Use of silymarin in the treatment of alcoholic hepatic stenosis", Clin. Ther., 1985, 114, pp 307-14
36. Salmi, H.A., and Sarna, S., "Effect of silymarin on chemical, functional, and morphological alteration of the liver. A double-blind controlled study" Scand.J.Gastroenterol., 1982, 17, pp 417-21
37. Scheiber, V., and Wohlzogen, F.X., "Analysis of a certain type of 2 x 3 tables, exemplified by biopsy findings in a controlled clinical trial", Int.J.Clin.Pharmacol., 1978, 16, pp 533-5
38. Boari, C., Montanari, M., Galleti, G.P., et al., "Occupational toxic liver diseases. Therapeutic effects of silymarin", Min.Med., 1985, 72, pp 2,679-88.

Some Modern Uses of Milk Thistle Seed by Paul Bergner

Milk thistle seed extracts, usually standardized to 70% silymarin content, are commonly used in conventional medicine in Europe, where it has been officially available since 1969. More than $180 million in silymarin products were sold in Germany alone in one recent year. The trials below all used this 70%-silymarin

pharmacetuical preparation, but this does not in any way prove that only such preparations would have this clinical result. See the accompanying articles for reports of clinical use of other forms of milk thistle seed.

HEPATITIS

In 77 patients with acute viral hepatitis, 42 were treated with placebo and 35 with a milk thistle seed extract. Recovery time for the placebo group averaged 43 days, and for the silymarin group, 29 days (Legalon).

Alcoholic cirrhosis

In a well-controlled double-blind study of ninety-six cases of alcholic hepatic cirrhosis, forty-nine patients were treated with placebo and forty-seven with silymarin. After a five-year period, there were only five deaths (10.5%) in the silymarin group, and fourteen deaths (28.5%) in the control group (Benda et al).

Pediatric liver disease

In a study of 166 children under the age of seventeen with chronic liver disease, the following results were obtained: For cases of chronic persistent hepatitis, 70% showed improvement, 27% stabilized; 4% had no improvement or stabilization. For cases of chronic active hepatitis, 32% showed improvement; 44% stabilized, and 24% had no beneficial effect (Jodl et al).

Fatty degeneration

In a group of 88 patients with toxic-metabolic liver damage due to alcohol abuse or diabetes mellitus, elevated transmaminase values and abnormal bromsulphalein test results tended to revert to normal. Ninety-one abnormal test results fell to only 37 (59% improvement) after treatment with silymarin (Fintelman V).

Pharmaceutical drugs

In a study of sixty-six female patients taking pychopharmacological or anticonvulsant agents for neurological or psychiatric problems, liver function tests gave a total of 71 abnormal results. Fifty-two of these (73% responded to silymarin treatment, the gret majority of them returning to normal ranges (Legalon).

Anesthesia

In sixty-one patients receiving anesthesia using halothane or hexobaribtal, the thrity-two control showed a distinct post-operative rise in serum enzymes. Twenty-nine patients receiving silymarin showed no such rise (Benda and Zenz).

Occupational toxins

Studies showed that silymarin could rapidly cure workers producing pesticides who had disturbed liver function; other studies showed that in forty patients with posioning by silicon dioxide, the effect could be completely antagonized by silymarin at certain doses (Legalon)