Silymarin

Silymarin is an extract of the milk thistle (Silybum marianum). Silymarin can significantly reduce tumor cell proliferation, angiogenesis as well as insulin resistance. Silymarin has the chemopreventive effect on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)[1].
Milk thistle is an annual or biennial herb native to the Mediterranean region, which has been used for centuries as a food and as a medicinal herb for treatment of liver conditions. Milk thistle has not been implicated in causing liver injury and is still used widely as a liver tonic in patients with acute and chronic liver diseases.|Milk Thistle is a substance derived from any of several Old World coarse prickly-leaved shrubs and subshrubs including the plant Silybum marianum. Milk thistle's active chemical component is silymarin, which is a combination of flavonoids such as silibinin, dehydrosilibinin, silychristin and silydianin. These compounds are antioxidants and may alter the membrane structure of the liver cell, thereby blocking the absorption of toxins; they may also stimulate the production of new liver cells. In addition, milk thistle may increase cellular adenosine triphosphate (ATP) levels, exhibiting dose-dependent cardiac myocyte cytoprotection against doxorubicin. The silibinin component of milk thistle has been shown to inhibit growth factor receptor-mediated mitogenic and cell survival signaling, thereby inhibiting tumor growth. (NCI04)|The major active component of silymarin flavonoids extracted from seeds of the MILK THISTLE, Silybum marianum; it is used in the treatment of HEPATITIS; LIVER CIRRHOSIS; and CHEMICAL AND DRUG INDUCED LIVER INJURY, and has antineoplastic activity; silybins A and B are diastereomers.