Clinical Studies

Silymarin in the Treatment of Liver Diseases

“Analysis was performed on five trials with a total of 602 patients with liver cirrhosis. The evidence shows that …….the use of silymarin leads to a significant reduction in liver-related mortality of……In one study of patients with cirrhosis-related diabetes mellitus, the insulin requirement was reduced by –25% (p < 0.01). We conclude that available evidence suggests that silymarin may play a role in the therapy of (alcoholic) liver cirrhosis. …..Silymarin has a good safety record and only rare case reports of gastrointestinal disturbances and allergic skin rashes have been published…. This review does not aim to replace future prospective trials aiming to provide the ‘final’ evidence of the efficacy of silymarin.” (Adis International Limited. All rights reserved. /Drugs 2001; 61 (14): 2035-2063 0012-6667/01/0014-2035)

Silymarin in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)

World Journal of Hepatology:

A study involving 72 patients:
“…silymarin appears to be effective in reducing the biochemical, inflammatory and ultrasonic indices of hepatic steatosis. Some parameters indicative of early stage of atherosclerosis were also lowered.” (2013 March 27;5(3):109-113

Silymarin in drug-induced liver injury

A double-blinded randomized controlled trial of silymarin for the prevention of anti-tuberculosis drug-induced liver injury

“Conclusions: Silymarin reduced the incidence of anti-TB-DILL. The benefit of silymarin may be explained from superoxide dismutase restoration. Larger clinical trials are required to confirm the result of our small study”/BMC Complementary & Alternative Medicine (2015) 15:334/DOI 10.1186/s12906-015-0861-7

Silymarin Safety

National Institutes of Health:
“A Randomized Controlled Trial to Assess the Safety and Efficacy of Silymarin on Symptoms, Signs and Biomarkers of Acute Hepatitis”

“Conclusions: xxx our results suggest that standard recommended doses of silymarin are safe and may be potentially effective in improving symptoms of acute clinical hepatitis………” (National Institutes of Health / Phytomedicine. 2209 May; 16(5):391-400. doi:10.10.16?j.phymed 2009.02.002)