Fanoudi, S; Alavi, MS; Karimi, G; Hosseinzadeh, H
Biological and chemical agents cause dangerous effects on human health via different exposing ways. Recently, herbal medicine is considered as a biological and safe treatment for toxicities. Silybum marianum (milk thistle), belongs to the Asteraceae family, possesses different effects such as hepatoprotective, cardioprotective, neuroprotective, anti-inflammatory and anti-carcinogenic activities. Several studies have demonstrated that this plant has protective properties against toxic agents. Herein, the protective effects of S. marianum and its main component, silymarin, which is the mixture of flavonolignans including silibinin, silydianin and silychristin acts against different biological (mycotoxins, snake venoms, and bacterial toxins) and chemical (metals, fluoride, pesticides, cardiotoxic, neurotoxic, hepatotoxic, and nephrotoxic agents) poisons have been summarized. This review reveals that main protective effects of milk thistle and its components are attributed to radical scavenging, anti-oxidative, chelating, anti-apoptotic properties, and regulating the inflammatory responses.
Milk thistle; protective; silibinin; Silybum marianum; silymarin; toxin; 1,2,3,6 tetrahydro 1 methyl 4 phenylpyridine; acrylamide; aflatoxin; alcohol; aluminum; anthracycline; antidote; arsenic; cadmium; copper; cytotoxic agent; doxorubicin; gentamicin; iron; lipopolysaccharide; malathion; maneb; manganese; mercury; microcystin LR; neurotoxin; ochratoxin; paraquat; pesticide; silibinin; silicristin; silidianin; silymarin; snake venom; antidote; chelating agent; plant extract; protective agent; scavenger; antiinflammatory activity; antioxidant activity; antitumorigenic activity; cardiotoxicity; heavy metal poisoning; human; innate immunity; lipid peroxidation; liver cell; liver toxicity; long term exposure; nephrotoxicity; neuroprotection; nonhuman; Review; Silybum marianum; animal; apoptosis; chemistry; drug effect; isolation and purification; Silybum marianum; Animals; Antidotes; Apoptosis; Chelating Agents; Free Radical Scavengers; Humans; Milk Thistle; Plant Extracts; Protective Agents