Comparative Assessment of Phytoconstituents, Antioxidant Activity and Chemical Analysis of Different Parts of Milk Thistle Silybum marianum L

Effects of dietary Silybum marianum powder on growth performance, egg and carcass characteristics, immune response, intestinal microbial population, haemato-biochemical parameters and sensory meat quality of laying quails

The study aimed to assess the effects of different dietary Silybum marianum (SM, milk thistle) powder levels on growth performance, productivity, immunity, small intestine, haemato-biochemical parameters, meat quality, and egg and carcass characteristics of laying quails. The experimental subjects consisted of one hundred and eight 43-day-old quails divided into 3 treatments (0, 0.75, and 1.50% SM) with 4 replicates each. The egg characteristics and growth performance of the quails were evaluated. Quails were euthanized for evaluation of carcasses, microbiota, and sensory characteristics of meat. Blood samples were analyzed for haematology and biochemical profile. SM at 0.75% and 1.50% significantly (P < 0.05) increased feed intake, enhanced egg characteristics (number, weight, width, length, volume, weight of egg yolk, and eggshell thickness), jejunum and ileum length, spleen weight, lactobacillus population, sensory characteristics of meat, red blood cell (RBC), hemoglobin, erythrocytic indices, concentration of albumin, globulin and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH). SM at 0.75% and 1.50% decreased (P < 0.05) carcass weight (abdominal fat, heart, neck, and pancreas), feed conversion ratio (FCR) based on eggs produced, percentages of heterophils and lymphocytes, concentration of lactate dehydrogenase, population of coliforms clostridia, and Escherichia coli. Aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, and creatine kinase were not significantly (P > 0.05) altered by 0.75% and 1.50% SM. SM at both levels (0.75% and 1.50%) may improve growth, egg characteristics, immune response, intestinal morphology and microbiota, meat quality and erythropoiesis, and also lead to decreased cholesterol in laying quails. Economics can be improved, too. The authors recommend adding 1.0% of SM to quail diet.

Hepatoprotective activity of medicinal plants, their phytochemistry, and safety concerns: a systematic review

Medicinal plants and their derivatives represent a promising reservoir of remedies for various ailments. Especially secondary metabolites of these plants, including alkaloids, flavonoids, phenolic compounds, terpenoids, steroids, saponins, tannins, and anthraquinones, play crucial roles in hepatoprotection. Studies have identified several prominent phytoconstituents, such as silymarin, quercetin, luteolin, glycyrrhizin, curcumin, gallic acid, chebulic acid, catechin, aloin, emodin, liquiritin, liquiritigenin, cudraflavone B, and karaviloside, as effective agents for addressing hepatotoxicity. The mechanisms underlying their efficacy include antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, free radical scavenging, and the ability to block oxidative stress, cytokine production, and stabilize liver cell membranes. The application of natural products derived from medicinal plants in treating liver injuries is rooted in their efficacy, cost-effectiveness, and safety profile, contributing to their popularity. Many studies, encompassing in vitro, in vivo, preclinical, and clinical investigations, have demonstrated that the extracts of medicinal plants mitigate chemical-induced liver damage using animal models. However, intensive research efforts regarding the safety, regulatory standard, and quality control issues for using medicinal plants as hepatoprotective agents remain the strong task of scholars. The primary focus of this systematic review is to analyze the current state of the literature regarding treating liver ailments using extracts from medicinal plants, examining their phytochemical composition, and addressing associated safety considerations.

A review of the botany, phytochemistry, pharmacology, synthetic biology and comprehensive utilization of Silybum marianum

Silybum marianum (L.) Gaertn, a herbaceous plant with a long history in traditional medicine for the treatment of hepatobiliary diseases, particularly in Europe, which has attracted attention for its remarkable therapeutic effect. This review systematically summarizes the research progress in the botany, phytochemistry, pharmacology, comprehensive utilization and synthetic biology of S. marianum. Up to now, more than 20 types of flavonolignan components have been isolated from S. marianum. In addition, the rearch on fatty acids and triterpenoids is also constantly improving. Among them, silybin is the most active compound in flavonolignans components. Its pharmacological effects in vivo and in vitro include anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-tumour, hypoglycaemic, neuroprotective and immunoregulatory properties. The use of coniferyl alcohol and taxifolin as substrates to produce silybin and isosilybin under the action of enzyme catalysis is the commonly used biosynthetic pathway of silymarin, which provides support for a comprehensive analysis of the synthetic pathway of silymarin. In addition to medicinal use, the extracts of plants also have broad application prospects in the production of food, healthcare products, cosmetics and other aspects. In addition, the chemical composition, pharmacological mechanism and synthetic biology of S. marianum need to be further studied, which is very important for its clinical efficacy and resource development.

Comprehensive Review on Fruit Seeds: Nutritional, Phytochemical, Nanotechnology, Toxicity, Food Biochemistry, and Biotechnology Perspective

Fruit seeds are leftovers from a variety of culinary sectors. They are generally unutilized and contribute greatly to global disposals. These seeds not only possess various nutritional attributes but also have many heath-beneficial properties. One way to make use of these seeds is to extract their bioactive components and create fortified food items. Nowadays, researchers are highly interested in creating innovative functional meals and food components from these unconventional resources. The main objective of this manuscript was to determine the usefulness of seed powder from 70 highly consumed fruits, including Apple, Apricot, Avocado, Banana, Blackberry, Blackcurrant, Blueberry, Cherry, Common plum, Cranberry, Gooseberry, Jackfruit, Jamun, Kiwi, Lemon, Mahua, Mango, Melon, Olive, Orange, and many more have been presented. The nutritional attributes, phytochemical composition, health advantages, nanotechnology applications, and toxicity of these fruit seeds have been fully depicted. This study also goes into in-depth detailing on creating useful food items out of these seeds, such as bakery goods, milk products, cereal-based goods, and meat products. It also identifies enzymes purified from these seeds along with their biochemical applications and any research openings in this area.

Moringa, Milk Thistle, and Jujube Seed Cold-Pressed Oils: Characteristic Profiles, Thermal Properties, and Oxidative Stability

Cold-pressed moringa, milk thistle, and jujube seed oils were investigated in terms of their characteristic profiles, thermal properties, and oxidative stability. The findings proved that the extracted oils were characterized by high nutritional values, which encourages their use in various fields. Results showed significant differences between the obtained oils. Overall, jujube seed oil exhibited the best quality parameters, with acidity equal to 0.762 versus 1% for the moringa and milk thistle seed oils. Milk thistle seed oil showed absorbance in the UV-C (100-290 nm), UV-B (290-320 nm), and UV-A (320-400 nm) ranges, while the moringa and jujube seed oils showed absorbance only in the UV-B and UV-A ranges. Concerning bioactive compounds, jujube seed oil presented the highest content of polyphenols, which promoted a good scavenging capacity (90% at 10 µg/mL) compared to the moringa and milk thistle seed oils. Assessing the thermal properties of the obtained oils showed the presence of four groups of triglycerides in the moringa and milk thistle seed oils, and two groups of triglycerides in the jujube seed oil. The thermograms were constant at temperatures above 10 °C for milk thistle seed oil, 15 °C for jujube seed oil, and 30 °C for moringa seed oil, which corresponded to complete liquefaction of the oils. The extinction coefficients K232 and K270, monitored during storage for 60 days at 60 °C, proved that jujube seed oil had the highest polyphenols content and was the most stable against thermal oxidation.

Metabolic profiling of milk thistle different organs using UPLC-TQD-MS/MS coupled to multivariate analysis in relation to their selective antiviral potential

INTRODUCTION

Silybum marianum commonly known as milk thistle is one of the most imperative medicinal plants due to its remarkable pharmacological activities. Lately, the antiviral activities of S. marianum extract have been studied and it showed effectiveness against many viruses.

OBJECTIVE

Although most previous studies were concerned mainly with silymarin content of the fruit, the present study provides comprehensive comparative evaluation of S. marianum different organs' chemical profiles using UPLC-MS/MS coupled to chemometrics to unravel potentially selective antiviral compounds against human coronavirus (HCoV-229E).

METHODOLOGY

UPLC-ESI-TQD-MS/MS analysis was utilized to establish metabolic fingerprints for S. marianum organs namely fruits, roots, stems and seeds. Multivariate analysis, using OPLS-DA and HCA-heat map was applied to explore the main discriminatory phytoconstituents between organs. Selective virucidal activity of organs extracts against coronavirus (HCoV-229E) was evaluated for the first time using cytopathic effect (CPE) inhibition assay. Correlation coefficient analysis was implemented for detection of potential constituents having virucidal activity.

RESULTS

UPLC-MS/MS analysis resulted in 87 identified metabolites belonging to different classes. OPLS-DA revealed in-between class discrimination between milk thistle organs proving their significantly different metabolic profiles. The results of CPE assay showed that all tested organ samples exhibited dose dependent inhibitory activity in nanomolar range. Correlation analysis disclosed that caffeic acid-O-hexoside, gadoleic and linolenic acids were the most potentially selective antiviral phytoconstituents.

CONCLUSION

This study valorizes the importance of different S. marianum organs as wealthy sources of selective and effective antiviral candidates. This approach can be extended to unravel potentially active constituents from complex plant matrices.

Potential antibacterial and antioxidant inhibitory activities of Silybum marianum mediated biosynthesised He-Ne laser

A potentially beneficial method in laser irradiation is currently gaining popularity. The biosynthesis of low-power lasers has also been applied to the therapy of disease in biological tissues. This study used laser pre-treatments of Silybum marianum (S. marianum) fruit extract as a stabilising agent to bio-fabricate a low-power laser. The silybin A and silybin B of the S. marianum fruit, which are derived from seedlings before S. marianum undergoes therapy with an He-Ne laser at various intervals, were assessed for their expressive properties in this study. The findings revealed that 6-min laser pre-treatments increased silybin A + B and bacterial inhibition and improved the medicinal property of S. marianum. The analysis of the reaction records was performed using ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) limit for the sphere dispersion approach's antimicrobial effect on the microorganisms under investigation was 50 to 100 g/mL. With an IC50 of 0.69 mg/mL, the laser-treated S. marianum (6 min) demonstrated radical scavenging activity. At MIC concentration, the laser-treated S. marianum (6 min) did not exhibit cytotoxicity in the MCF-7 cell line. Additionally, Salmonella typhi, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and E. coli were more susceptible to the antimicrobial effects of ethanolic fruit extract with a greater silybin level. It was observed that the laser-treated S. marianum (6 min) showed beneficial antioxidant and antibacterial properties and could be employed without risk in several medical applications.

Authentication of milk thistle commercial products using UHPLC-QTOF-ESI + MS metabolomics and DNA metabarcoding

BACKGROUND

Milk thistle is one of the most popular hepatoprotectants, and is often sold in combination with other ingredients. Botanical supplements are known to be vulnerable to contamination and adulteration, and emerging technologies show promise to improve their quality control.

METHODS

Untargeted and semi-targeted metabolomics based on UHPLC-QTOF-ESI⁺MS techniques, UV spectrometry, and DNA metabarcoding using Illumina MiSeq were used to authenticate eighteen milk thistle botanical formulations (teas, capsules, tablets, emulsion).

RESULTS

Untargeted metabolomics separated 217 molecules and by multivariate analysis the discrimination between the different preparations was established. The semi-targeted metabolomics focused on 63 phytochemicals, mainly silymarin flavonolignans and flavonoids, that may be considered as putative biomarkers of authenticity. All formulations contained molecules from silymarin complexes at different levels. The quantitative evaluation of silybins was done using in parallel UV spectrometry and UHPLC-QTOF-ESI⁺MS and their correlations were compared. DNA metabarcoding detected milk thistle in eleven out of sixteen retained preparations, whereas two others had incomplete evidence of milk thistle despite metabolomics validating specific metabolites, e.g., silymarin complex, identified and quantified in all samples. Meanwhile, the DNA metabarcoding provided insights into the total species composition allowing the interpretation of the results in a broad context.

CONCLUSION

Our study emphasizes that combining spectroscopic, chromatographic, and genetic techniques bring complementary information to guarantee the quality of the botanical formulations.

Sodium Nitroprusside Improves the Growth and Behavior of the Stomata of Silybum marianum L. Subjected to Different Degrees of Drought

The use of growth-stimulating signals to increase the tolerance of plants to water deficits can be an important strategy in the production of plants in dry areas. Therefore, a split-plot experiment with three replications was conducted to evaluate the effects of sodium nitroprusside (SNP) application rate as an NO donor (0, 100, and 200 µM) on the growth and yield parameters of Silybum marianum L. (S. marianum) under different irrigation cut-off times (control, irrigation cut-off from stem elongation, and anthesis). The results of this study showed that with increasing drought severity, leaf RWC, proline content and capitula per plant, 1000 grain weight, plant height, branch per plant, capitula diameter, and the biological and grain yield of S. marianum decreased significantly, whereas the number of grains per capitula increased compared with the control. Also, by irrigation cut-off from the stem elongation stage, the density of leaf stomata at the bottom and top epidermis increased by 64% and 39%, respectively, and the length of the stomata at the bottom epidermis of the leaf decreased up to 28%. In contrast, the results of this experiment showed that the exogenous application of nitric oxide reduced the negative effects of irrigation cut-off, such that the application of 100 µM SNP enhanced RWC content (up to 9%), proline concentration (up to 40%), and grain (up to 34%) and biological (up to 44%) yields in plants under drought stress compared with non-application of SNP. The decrease in the number of capitula per plant and capitula diameter was also compensated by foliar application of 100 µM SNP under stress conditions. In addition, exogenous NO changed the behavior of the stomata during the period of dehydration, such that plants treated with SNP showed a decrease in the stomatal density of the leaf and an increase in the length of the stomata at the leaf bottom epidermis. These results indicate that SNP treatment, especially at 100 µM, was helpful in alleviating the deleterious effects of water deficiency and enhancing the tolerance of S. marianum to withholding irrigation times.

Detecting and Profiling of Milk Thistle Metabolites in Food Supplements: A Safety-Oriented Approach by Advanced Analytics

Milk thistle (Silybum marianum (L.) Gaertn.) is among the top-selling botanicals used as a supportive treatment for liver diseases. Silymarin, a mixture of unique flavonolignan metabolites, is the main bioactive component of milk thistle. The biological activities of silymarin have been well described in the literature, and its use is considered safe and well-tolerated in appropriate doses. However, commercial preparations do not always contain the recommended concentrations of silymarin, failing to provide the expected therapeutic effect. While the poor quality of raw material may explain the low concentrations of silymarin, its deliberate removal is suspected to be an adulteration. Toxic contaminants and foreign matters were also detected in milk thistle preparations, raising serious health concerns. Standard methods for determination of silymarin components include thin-layer chromatography (TLC), high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC), and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with various detectors, but nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) have also been applied. This review surveys the extraction techniques of main milk thistle metabolites and the quality, efficacy, and safety of the derived food supplements. Advanced analytical authentication approaches are discussed with a focus on DNA barcoding and metabarcoding to complement orthogonal chemical characterization and fingerprinting of herbal products.

Combined Silymarin and Cotrimoxazole Therapy Attenuates Pulmonary Fibrosis in Experimental Paracoccidioidomycosis

Paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM), which mainly affects rural workers, is a systemic mycosis caused by the Paracoccidioides genus that induces pulmonary sequelae in most adult patients, causing serious disability and impairing their quality of life. Silymarin is herbal medicine with an effective antifibrotic activity. Considering that in PCM, antifibrotic treatment is still not available in pulmonary fibrosis, we aimed to evaluate combined silymarin and cotrimoxazole (CMX) therapy via the intratracheal route in BALB/c mice infected with P. brasiliensis yeast. After 12 weeks of treatment, the lungs were collected for the determination of fungal burden, production of OH-proline, deposition of collagen fibers, pulmonary concentrations of cytokines, and expression of fibronectin, α-SMA, MMP-2, MMP-9, and TIMP-2. Spleen cell cultures were also performed. Our results showed that infected mice treated with combined silymarin/CMX showed lower deposition of collagen fibers in the lungs and lower pulmonary concentrations of hydroxyproline than the placebo groups. Decreased levels of TGF-β1 and fibronectin and high levels of MMP-2 and IFN-γ were also observed in this group of mice. Collectively, our findings indicate that the combination of antifungal treatment with silymarin has a potent antifibrotic effect associated with an immunomodulatory effect that potentializes the antifungal immune response.