Investigating the impact of silymarin on liver oxidative injury

Introduction: Various drugs affect liver problems caused by general hypoxia, including silymarin. Due to the fungal killer toxins, nowadays, silymarin (milk thistle) is used as an effective drug in the prevention and treatment of liver diseases and liver toxicity. In addition, silymarin protects the liver cells from solvents and chemical substances. The aim of this paper is to investigate the impact of silymarin on liver problems induced by general hypoxia.

Material and methods: This study was a double-blinded clinical trial on patients with hypoxia who referred to the hospital emergency department. Patients were randomly divided into case and control groups. The case group was treated with silymarin at a dose of 280 mg with orally gavage technique and the control group was treated with a placebo every 8 h for 3 days. To investigate the leukocytosis, liver enzymes levels of alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), creatine phosphokinase (CPK), prothrombin time (PT), partial thromboplastin (PTT), international normalized ratio (INR), and white blood cell (WBC) were measured before and after the intervention. SPSS 21 software was used to analyze the data.

Results: In the silymarin group, liver enzymes were lower than the placebo group on the third day after treatment (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of coagulation factors and WBC count on the third day after treatment (P > 050). On the third day after treatment, the amount of GGT was lower in the silymarin group (P < 0.05).

Conclusion: Silymarin decreased liver enzymes (ALT, AST, and CPK) and the level of GGT. Therefore, it is recommended to be used in patients with hypoxic liver injury.

Keywords: Hypoxia; liver disease; silymarin.