Milk Thistle
Silybum Marianum
Description:
This is a plant indigenous to Europe. It grows erect to a height of 70 to 150 centimeters with leaves in an alternate pattern. It has large purple composite flower heads. The fruit is brown, spotted and glossy with a tuft of white hair. The medicinal part is the ripe seeds.
Composition:
The ripe seeds contain silibinin, silydianin, and silychristin.
Properties:
Antagonist to liver damage. Cholagogue.
Actions:
Silymarin acts as an antagonist in many experimental liver-damage models such as that due to death cap mushroom poisoning or from carbon tetrachloride. Silymarin has two mechanisms of action. First,
it prevents the liver toxins from entering the liver cells by altering the structure of the hepatocytes' cell membranes. Secondly, it stimulates the regenerative ability of the liver and the formation of new hepatocytes by promoting the action of nucleolar polymerase A which results in an increase in ribosomal protein synthesis.
Uses:
Loss of appetite. Toxic liver damage. Supportive treatment in chronic inflammatory liver disease and hepatic cirrhosis.
Side Effects:
No health hazards known with proper administration of therapeutic dosages. A mild laxative effect may observed in occasional instances.