Antioxidant flavonoids, called silymarin, in the milk thistle plant may help protect the liver from damage from toxins. Maximum milk thistle, which is milk thistle combined with phosphatidylcholine, may have a better absorption rate than milk thistle alone. If you have cirrhosis, your liver has severe damage from scarring. Milk thistle can't reverse that, but it may help prevent further scarring. Studies have not proved the benefit of maximum thistle in cirrhosis. Take this product only with your doctor's approval if you have liver disease.
Actions
Your body does not absorb water-soluble flavonoids well in general, because they can't pass through the lipid membranes of cells. Combining water-soluble flavonoids like silymarin with phospholipids made from soy, such as phosphatidylcholine, creates a substance that is both water- and fat-soluble and passes more easily into cells. Silybin, the most active antioxidant of the silymarin flavonoids, helps protect liver cells from damage; it won't heal cirrhotic cells but may help preserve any normal cells.
Studies
A Swiss review of 19 studies reported in the February 2008 issue of "Forschende Komplementarmedizin" looked at the effects of silymarin in patients with hepatitis C as well as those with alcoholic liver disease. Silymarin did not alter the course of hepatitis C but did improve some -- but not all -- blood tests associated with liver dysfunction. Liver-related mortality was 10 percent in treated patients compared to 17 percent with a placebo. Researchers concluded that silymarin was a reasonable supportive treatment in the earliest stage of cirrhosis, Child Grade A. This review did not look only at maximum milk thistle but at all silymarin studies. An earlier September 1993 Italian study in the "International Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, Therapy and Toxicology" found a reduction in all standard liver function tests.
Safety
Maximum milk thistle appears safe for use in cirrhosis when used for up to six years, according to the Mayo Clinic website. A 1991 Italian study published in "Medical Sciences Research" found no changes in liver function studies in patients with cirrhosis who took 120 mg of silymarin for eight days.
Considerations
The Mayo Clinic website rates milk thistle's effectiveness in cirrhosis as "B," meaning that good scientific evidence exists for its use. At the same time, the site cautions that most studies have been poorly designed and that more research is needed. Do not take any substance, including maximum milk thistle, without your medical practitioner's approval if you have cirrhosis. Cirrhosis severely limits the liver's ability to break down and metabolize any substance.
References
- "International Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, Therapy and Toxicology"; A Pilot Study on the Liver Protective Effect of Silybin-Phosphatidylcholine Complex (IdB1016) in Chronic Active Hepatitis; G. Buzzelli, et al.; September 1993
- "Alternative Medicine Review"; Silybin-Phosphatidylcholine Complex; 2009
- University of Maryland Medical Center; Milk Thistle; Steven Ehrlich; March 2009
- "Forschende Komplementarmedizin" ; An Updated Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis for the Clinical Evidence of Silymarin; R. Saller, et al.; February 2008
- Mayo Clinic; Milk Thistle; April 2011
