St Mary's Thistle
Silybum marianumSource of silymarin flavonolignans used to protect liver cells
Saint Mary’s Thistle (S. marianum)
Liver Health and Immune Modulation
Has a stimulatory and restorative effect on the liver, removes free-radicals, and toxic peroxides products. Silybin helps reduce enzymatic hyperactivity and hyperlipidemia in the liver. [1,2] Silybin has also been found to accelerate liver regeneration via stimulation of hepatocytes. [3,4] Extracts did not show any restorative capabilities in subjects with liver cirrhosis but did show liver protection capabilities when given in conjunction with alcohol. [5] Immunomodulant activities were regarded as similar to that of echinacea. [6]
Lactation
Increases in breastmilk is usually conducted in studies using isolated compounds or analogues of compounds found in saint Mary’s thistle (SMT). The results are mixed, with some papers reporting little-no change in breast milk production, while others find significant differences between control and “active” groups. [7,8,9,10] One thing of note is that while the results are mixed in terms of total milk volume day to day, a few studies have shown that the treatment group often breastfed their babies more, for longer. While also having less issues while doing so. [5,11]
Toxicity
Classed as low toxicity, with one study showing no toxicity at doses of 10,000 mg/kg [12] No embryotoxicity was observed. [13] No detectable transfer of thistle compounds into breast milk. [14] 5g mixture of thistle and goats rue showed no side effects in breastfed infants. [15]
Key Citations
- A. I. Vengerovskii, V. S. Chuchalin, E. A. Morozova, et al., Farmakol.. Toksikol., 50(5), 67 – 69 (1987) ↩︎
- V. A. Kurkin. Phenylpropanoids: Promising Natural Biologically Active Compounds, Samara State University, Samara (1996) ↩︎
- N. P. Skakun, I. P. Moseichuk, I. Yu.. Stepanova, et al., Farmatsiya, 48(6), 13 – 17 (1987) ↩︎
- L. I. Dranik, L. G. Dolganenko, V. V. Belikov, et al., USSR Inventor’s Certificate No. 603, 386; Byul.. Izobret., No. 15 (1978) ↩︎
- D. Platt and B. Schnorr. Arzneim.-Forsch. (Drug Res.), 21(8), 1206 – 1208 (1971) ↩︎
- V. A. Kurkin, A. A. Lebedev, G. V. Simonova, et al., in: Abstrs. of Papers.. The 5th All-Russia Sci.-Pract (1998) — Conf “Ecology and Public Health” \[in Russian\], Samara, pp 109 – 111\ ↩︎
- Di Pierro F, Callegari A, Carotenuto D, et al.. Clinical efficacy, safety and tolerability of BIO-C (micronized silymarin) as a galactagogue — Acta Biomed (2008) — 79:205–10 ↩︎
- Farmer C, Lapointe J, Palin MF.. Effects of the plant extract silymarin on prolactin concentrations, mammary gland development, and oxidative stress in gestating gilts — J Anim Sci (2014) — 92:2922–30 ↩︎
- Zecca E, Zuppa AA, D'Antuono A, et al.. Efficacy of a galactogogue containing silymarin-phosphatidylserine and galega in mothers of preterm infants: A randomized controlled trial — Eur J Clin Nutr (2016) — 70:1151–4 ↩︎
- Serrao F, Corsello M, Romagnoli C, et al.. The long-term efficacy of a galactagogue containing silymarin-phosphatidylserine and Galega on milk production of mothers of preterm infants — Breastfeed Med (2018) — 13:67–9 ↩︎
- McBride GM, Stevenson R, Zizzo G, et al.. Use and experiences of galactagogues while breastfeeding among Australian women (2021) — PLoS One.;16:e0254049 ↩︎
- Kurkin, V.A. Saint-Mary Thistle: a Source of Medicinals (A Review).. Pharmaceutical Chemistry Journal *37, *189–202 (2003) ↩︎
- G. Vogel. in: New Natural Products and Plant Drugs with Pharmacological, Biological or Therapeutical activity, Springer Verlag, Berlin – Heidelberg – New York, pp (1977) — 249 – 265\ ↩︎
- Drugs and Lactation Database (LactMed) \[Internet\].. Bethesda (MD): National Library of Medicine (US); 2006 — \[Updated Jul 19\] (2021) — Milk Thistle Available from ↩︎
- Zecca E, Zuppa AA, D'Antuono A, et al.. Efficacy of a galactogogue containing silymarin-phosphatidylserine and galega in mothers of preterm infants: A randomized controlled trial — Eur J Clin Nutr (2016) — 70:1151–4 ↩︎