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Licensed Unlicensed Requires Authentication Published by De Gruyter March 5, 2020

Silymarin: not just another antioxidant

  • Fernanda Caetano Camini EMAIL logo and Daniela Caldeira Costa

Abstract

Silymarin (Silybum marianum; SM), popularly known as milk thistle, is an extract that has been used for many centuries to treat liver diseases. In recent years, several studies have shown that SM is not only just another antioxidant but also a multifunctional compound that exhibits several beneficial properties for use in the treatment and prevention of different types of pathologies and disorders. This review aims at demonstrating the main protective activities of SM in diseases, such as cancer, diabetes, hepatitis, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, alcoholic liver disease, hepatitis C virus, hepatitis B virus, metabolic syndrome, depression, cardiovascular diseases and thalassemia, in addition to its photoprotective activity in in vitro tests and preclinical studies. Its main functions include antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, and it acts as modulator of signaling pathways. It has been suggested that SM presents great multifunctional potential and is capable of achieving promising results in different types of research. However, caution is still needed regarding its indiscriminate use in humans as there are only a few clinical studies relating to the adequate dose and the actual efficacy of this extract in different types of diseases.

Acknowledgments

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES), Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG) and Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto.

  1. Research funding: None declared.

  2. Author contributions: All authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript and approved its submission.

  3. Competing interests: The authors state no conflict of interest.

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Received: 2019-07-22
Accepted: 2019-11-30
Published Online: 2020-03-05

© 2020 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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