Globally, the risk of colorectal cancer (CRC) as well as the incidence of mortality associated with CRC is increasing. Thus, it is imperative that we look at alternative approaches involving intake of non-toxic natural dietary/non-dietary agents, for the prevention of CRC. The ultimate goal of this approach is to reduce the incidence of pre-neoplastic adenomatous polyps and prevent their progre...

Silybum marianum or milk thistle (MT) is the most well-researched plant in the treatment of liver disease. The active complex of MT is a lipophilic extract from the seeds of the plant and is composed of three isomer flavonolignans (silybin, silydianin, and silychristin) collectively known as silymarin. Silybin is a component with the greatest degree of biological activity and makes up 50% to 70...

Seven pure flavonolignans were isolated from an extract of milk thistle [Silybum marianum (L.) Gaertn (Asteraceae)], by semipreparative reverse-phase HPLC, and identified based on spectroscopic and LC-MS=IT-TOF data. All seven compounds were screened as potential antitumor-promoting agents by using the in vitro short-term 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA)induced Epstein-Barr virus earl...

The aim of the work was to examine the influence of gender on pharmacokinetics of silymarin; a basic constituent of medicinal herb "milk thistle" (Silybum marianum). The presented work is the extension of published work of Usman et al. (16). The comparative parallel design pharmacokinetic study was conducted in Pakistani healthy volunteers (male and female) receiving a single 200 mg oral dose o...

We demonstrate herein that silibinin, a polyphenolic flavonoid compound isolated from milk thistle (Silybum marianum), inhibits LPS-induced activation of macrophages and production of nitric oxide (NO) in RAW 264.7 cells. Western blot analysis showed silibinin inhibits iNOS gene expression. RT-PCR showed that silibinin inhibits iNOS, TNF-α, and IL1β. We also showed that silibinin strongly inhib...

Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder that results in hyperglycemia due to decreased insulin production or inefficient insulin utilization. This disease has been reported in animals, particularly in aged dogs. However, the disorder is much more prevalent in humans. Millions of people across the globe currently have diabetes and incidence rates are predicted to increase dramatically as the p...

Silymarin, a flavonolignan derived from Silybum marianum, possesses diverse pharmacological activities, including hepatoprotective, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, and cardioprotective. Although clinical trials have shown silymarin is safe at high doses (>1500 mg/day) in humans, the pharmacokinetic studies over the past three decades related to absorption, distribution, metabolism, ...