Hepatoprotective milk thistle

T raditionally, milk thistle fruits have been used for disorders of the liver, spleen, and gall bladder, such as jaundice and gall bladder colic. Milk thistle has also been used for nursing mothers for stimulating milk production, as a bitter tonic, for hemorrhoids, for dyspeptic complaints, and as a demulcent in catarrh and pleurisy. It is stated to possess hepatoprotective, antioxidant, and choleretic properties (128). Current interest is focused on the hepatoprotective activity of milk thistle and its use for the treatment of liver, spleen, and gall bladder disorders (129). Recently it has been shown that silibinin reduced prostate-specific antigen levels in prostate carcinoma cells lines, indicating a possible role of silibinin in human prostate cancer (130,131). 

Some flavonoid glycosides are prepared s)mthetically or by biotransformations, usually for pharmaceutical purposes. Silybin (7) is a flavonolignan that is extracted from seeds of milk thistle (Silybum marianum) and it is used extensively as a potent hepatoprotectant and an antidote in mushroom poisoning. The major drawback of this compound is its low water solubility (about 0.43 g/L). Therefore, its glycosylation was accomplished by biological [13] and chemical methods [14]. 

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