Cargando…
Role of Silymarin in Cancer Treatment: Facts, Hypotheses, and Questions
The flavonoid silymarin extracted from the seeds of Sylibum marianum is a mixture of 6 flavolignan isomers. The 3 more important isomers are silybin (or silibinin), silydianin, and silychristin. Silybin is functionally the most active of these compounds. This group of flavonoids has been extensively...
Autores principales: | , |
---|---|
Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
SAGE Publications
2022
|
Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8814827/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35018864 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/2515690X211068826 |
_version_ | 1784645149336272896 |
---|---|
author | Koltai, Tomas Fliegel, Larry |
author_facet | Koltai, Tomas Fliegel, Larry |
author_sort | Koltai, Tomas |
collection | PubMed |
description | The flavonoid silymarin extracted from the seeds of Sylibum marianum is a mixture of 6 flavolignan isomers. The 3 more important isomers are silybin (or silibinin), silydianin, and silychristin. Silybin is functionally the most active of these compounds. This group of flavonoids has been extensively studied and they have been used as hepato-protective substances for the mushroom Amanita phalloides intoxication and mainly chronic liver diseases such as alcoholic cirrhosis and nonalcoholic fatty liver. Hepatitis C progression is not, or slightly, modified by silymarin. Recently, it has also been proposed for SARS COVID-19 infection therapy. The biochemical and molecular mechanisms of action of these substances in cancer are subjects of ongoing research. Paradoxically, many of its identified actions such as antioxidant, promoter of ribosomal synthesis, and mitochondrial membrane stabilization, may seem protumoral at first sight, however, silymarin compounds have clear anticancer effects. Some of them are: decreasing migration through multiple targeting, decreasing hypoxia inducible factor-1α expression, inducing apoptosis in some malignant cells, and inhibiting promitotic signaling among others. Interestingly, the antitumoral activity of silymarin compounds is limited to malignant cells while the nonmalignant cells seem not to be affected. Furthermore, there is a long history of silymarin use in human diseases without toxicity after prolonged administration. The ample distribution and easy accessibility to milk thistle—the source of silymarin compounds, its over the counter availability, the fact that it is a weed, some controversial issues regarding bioavailability, and being a nutraceutical rather than a drug, has somehow led medical professionals to view its anticancer effects with skepticism. This is a fundamental reason why it never achieved bedside status in cancer treatment. However, in spite of all the antitumoral effects, silymarin actually has dual effects and in some cases such as pancreatic cancer it can promote stemness. This review deals with recent investigations to elucidate the molecular actions of this flavonoid in cancer, and to consider the possibility of repurposing it. Particular attention is dedicated to silymarin's dual role in cancer and to some controversies of its real effectiveness. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-8814827 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2022 |
publisher | SAGE Publications |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-88148272022-02-05 Role of Silymarin in Cancer Treatment: Facts, Hypotheses, and Questions Koltai, Tomas Fliegel, Larry J Evid Based Integr Med Topical Review Article The flavonoid silymarin extracted from the seeds of Sylibum marianum is a mixture of 6 flavolignan isomers. The 3 more important isomers are silybin (or silibinin), silydianin, and silychristin. Silybin is functionally the most active of these compounds. This group of flavonoids has been extensively studied and they have been used as hepato-protective substances for the mushroom Amanita phalloides intoxication and mainly chronic liver diseases such as alcoholic cirrhosis and nonalcoholic fatty liver. Hepatitis C progression is not, or slightly, modified by silymarin. Recently, it has also been proposed for SARS COVID-19 infection therapy. The biochemical and molecular mechanisms of action of these substances in cancer are subjects of ongoing research. Paradoxically, many of its identified actions such as antioxidant, promoter of ribosomal synthesis, and mitochondrial membrane stabilization, may seem protumoral at first sight, however, silymarin compounds have clear anticancer effects. Some of them are: decreasing migration through multiple targeting, decreasing hypoxia inducible factor-1α expression, inducing apoptosis in some malignant cells, and inhibiting promitotic signaling among others. Interestingly, the antitumoral activity of silymarin compounds is limited to malignant cells while the nonmalignant cells seem not to be affected. Furthermore, there is a long history of silymarin use in human diseases without toxicity after prolonged administration. The ample distribution and easy accessibility to milk thistle—the source of silymarin compounds, its over the counter availability, the fact that it is a weed, some controversial issues regarding bioavailability, and being a nutraceutical rather than a drug, has somehow led medical professionals to view its anticancer effects with skepticism. This is a fundamental reason why it never achieved bedside status in cancer treatment. However, in spite of all the antitumoral effects, silymarin actually has dual effects and in some cases such as pancreatic cancer it can promote stemness. This review deals with recent investigations to elucidate the molecular actions of this flavonoid in cancer, and to consider the possibility of repurposing it. Particular attention is dedicated to silymarin's dual role in cancer and to some controversies of its real effectiveness. SAGE Publications 2022-01-12 /pmc/articles/PMC8814827/ /pubmed/35018864 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/2515690X211068826 Text en © The Author(s) 2022 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage). |
spellingShingle | Topical Review Article Koltai, Tomas Fliegel, Larry Role of Silymarin in Cancer Treatment: Facts, Hypotheses, and Questions |
title | Role of Silymarin in Cancer Treatment: Facts, Hypotheses, and Questions |
title_full | Role of Silymarin in Cancer Treatment: Facts, Hypotheses, and Questions |
title_fullStr | Role of Silymarin in Cancer Treatment: Facts, Hypotheses, and Questions |
title_full_unstemmed | Role of Silymarin in Cancer Treatment: Facts, Hypotheses, and Questions |
title_short | Role of Silymarin in Cancer Treatment: Facts, Hypotheses, and Questions |
title_sort | role of silymarin in cancer treatment: facts, hypotheses, and questions |
topic | Topical Review Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8814827/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35018864 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/2515690X211068826 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT koltaitomas roleofsilymarinincancertreatmentfactshypothesesandquestions AT fliegellarry roleofsilymarinincancertreatmentfactshypothesesandquestions |