Cirrhosis milk thistle

Alcoholic cirrhosis has been improved (faster return of fiver enzymes to baseline) in at least three trials, although one multicenter Spanish study failed to demonstrate any change in the clinical course. There is no evidence to support the use of milk thistle to increase alcohol tolerance, although it is certainly being used for this purpose. The effectiveness of silymarin for viral hepatitis is not clear, although several trials demonstrated enough benefit to encourage further studies. 

Milk thistle has shown promise in improving liver function parameters in various hepatotoxic situations, such as alcoholic cirrhosis and mushroom poisoning. It is still unclear whether it will offer protection against viral hepatitis and various nephrotoxic agents. 

One of the most unusual mechanisms claimed for milk thistle involves an increase in RNA polymerase I activity in nonmalignant hepatocytes but not in hepatoma or other malignant cell lines. By increasing this enzyme s activity, enhanced protein synthesis and cellular regeneration may occur in diseased but not malignant cells. Milk thistle may have a role in hepatic fibrosis. In an animal model of cirrhosis, it reduced collagen accumulation, and in an in vitro model it reduced expression of the profibrogenic cytokine TGF-13. 

Milk thistle has been used to treat acute and chronic viral hepatitis, alcoholic liver disease, and toxin-induced liver injury in human patients. Milk thistle has most often been studied in the treatment of alcoholic hepatitis and cirrhosis. In both of these disorders, outcomes have been mixed and reports include significant reductions in markers of liver dysfunction and in mortality, as well as no effect. In acute viral hepatitis, studies have generally involved small sample sizes and have shown mixed outcomes of improved liver function (eg, aminotransferase values, bilirubin, prothrombin time) or no effect. Studies in chronic viral hepatitis and toxin-induced injury have also been of small size but have reported mostly favorable results. Parenteral silybin is marketed and used in Europe as an antidote in Amanitaphalloides mushroom poisoning, based on favorable outcomes reported in case-control studies. 

Silybium marianun (milk thistle) used for repairing liver function including cirrhosis ... 

Regulatory Status. Class 1 dietary supplement (can be safely consumed when used appropriately). Milk thistle is the subject of a positive German therapeutic monograph indicated for toxic liver damage, liver cirrhosis, and supportive treatment of chronic inflammatory liver disease. ... 

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