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Milk Thistle
Milk Thistle, Silybum marianum, Silymarin “It has been shown to have active clinical applications in the treatment of toxic hepatitis, fatty liver, cirrhosis, ischemic injury, radiation toxicity, and viral hepatitis via its antioxidative, anti-lipidperoxidase, antifibrotic, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulating and liver regenerating effects.” Luper, S. A review of plants used in the treatment of liver disease: part 1. Altern.Med.Rev. 1998;3(6):410-421.
Liver Milk thistle is used in the treatment of alcoholic, viral, nonalcoholic and toxic liver cirrhosis. Studies have shown that its hepatoprotective properties occur through many ways. It increases the activity of superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase which leads to enhanced clearance of free radicals. It is considered to be a very powerful antioxidant but has not affect on the p-450 enzymes and therefore does not affect the action of other drugs. It has an additive effect with other treatments of liver disease increases the reduction of elevated AST, ALT, and bilirubin. Milk thistle has demonstrated improvement of the depressed immunoactivity of patients with chronic alcoholic liver disease by increasing lymphocyte proliferation, normalizing the low T cell to CD8+ percentage, and reducing the antibody dependent and cytotoxicity of lymphocytes against hepatocytes. Its membrane stabilization and antioxidant properties also help liver cell regeneration and decrease the inflammatory reaction thereby inhibiting the fibrogenesis in the liver. Milk thistle has been shown to increase the survival rate of patients with cirrhosis. A pilot study has uncovered a possible role of milk thistle in the treatment of patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis. A study conducted on patients with viral hepatitis showed an accelerated rate of regression of disease. Immunology Milk thistle has been proven to enhance the proliferation of lymphocytes. It also demonstrated the selective inhibition of leukotriene formation by the 5-lipoxygenase pathway. Milk thistle enhances the spontaneous motility of PMN’s. It was shown to inhibit the RNA and protein synthesis of gram (+) bacteria. Milk thistle has demonstrated significant anti-inflammatory and immunostimulatory effects. Cancer Treatment Milk Thistle demonstrated many anti-cancer properties. It shows significant inhibition of cell growth and DNA synthesis in human prostate, breast and cervical cancer cells and an anti-proliferative effect on all gynaecological malignancies. It modulates cell cycle regulators leading to GI arrest and inhibition of cell growth in prostate cancer and also shows a delay in PSA progression. Milk thistle shows an inhibitory effect on cancer metastasis on invasion and motility but not adhesion, therefore the anti-proliferative capabilities are time sensitive. It has chemopreventive effects against chemical carcinogenesis as well as photocarcinogenesis. Including protection against UV irradiation induced apoptosis in melanoma cells by blockage of caspaces and increased expression of Bcl-x(L) protein. Milk thistle’s anticarcinogenic properties are partly explained by its inhibition of the activation of NF-kappa B and protein kinases which demonstrates how it modulates imbalance between cell survival and apoptosis through interference with expression of cell cycle regulators and proteins involved in apoptosis.
Additional Information Milk thistle has demonstrated nephroprotective capabilities against chemotherapeutic and other toxic agents in several studies. This result has lead to further study of milk thistle as an added component of chemotherapies to protect the kidney from damage. In recent studies it has also been shown to improve diabetic axonopathy and decrease diabetic neuropathy. The mechanism by which this is explained is through the mono-ADP-ribosylation of proteins in a hyperglycemic state. This leads to a substance P like immunoreactivity which causes damage in schwann cells. Milk thistle prevents the ADP-ribosylation therefore blocking the damaging process that leads to peripheral neuropathies. It has also been shown to promote neuronal differentiation ad survival. |
