Milk thistle compound may protect against liver cancer

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Milk thistle compound may protect

against liver cancer

11/15/2007 - A flavanone compound in milk thistle, silibinin,

may stop the growth and spread of liver cancer, suggests a laboratory study

from the University of California, Irvine.

The in vitro study used human liver

cancer cells exposed to different doses of silibinin, and found that the milk

thistle compound could inhibit the spread of the cells and

promote programmed cell death (apoptosis).

It should be stressed that the new research,

published in the World Journal of Gastroenterology, did not use milk thistle dietary supplements, but pure silibinin, the active component in milk thistle.

Liver cancer is the sixth most commonly diagnosed

cancer in the world, and third most common cause of death from cancer,

according to Cancer Research UK. Despite these figures, the cancer remains relatively

rare, with 18,500 new cases in the US every year, and about 3,000 in the UK.

The highest incidences of the disease are in

east and Southeast Asia, particularly China, and for this reason the current researchers looked at

the effects of probiotic supplements on markers for

the disease.

Ke-Qin Hu and his research team

tested doses of silibinin ranging from 10 to 240

micromoles per litre for the human liver cancer cell

lines, HuH7, HepG2, Hep3B, and PLC/PRF/5.

The researchers report a dose-dependent response at

levels above 180 micromoles per litre, and an IC50

value, a measure of the extract concentration under which 50 per cent of the

cell population growth was inhibited, of 240 micromoles per litre.

Additional study was limited to the HuH7 cell line,

" because

the HuH7 cell line is one of the most commonly used human (hepatocellular

carcinoma) HCC lines, "

said the researchers.

A mechanistic study indicated that the milk thistle

compound was associated with an increase in histone acetylation. The significance of

this increase is that histone acetylation

is reportedly involved in cell proliferation, differentiation, and cell cycle

regulation.

Indeed, measurements of apoptosis showed that, at a

dose of 240 micromoles per litre, silibinin

increased programmed cell death of the cancer cells by a factor of nine.

Hu and co-workers state that further work is necessary to

full elucidate the mechanism. It is also not known if

the doses required to offer the potential anti-cancer

benefits could be achieved using milk thistle supplements.

" Our findings

not only indicate silibinin's novel anti-cancer

mechanisms, but also provide additional targets for searching new agents for

HCC chemoprevention, "

concluded the researchers.

Milk thistle (Silybum marianum) has been used for a long time as a food in Europe. Young leaves

are used in salads, the stalks eaten like asparagus, and the heads boiled like

artichoke.

According to the Manitoba Agriculture, Food

and Rural Initiatives (Canada) milk thistle ranked 12th among the top selling

herb supplements in the US mass market, with sales of over $3m in 1997.

Previously, silibinin has

linked to similar benefits against lung cancer growth (Journal of the National

Cancer Institute, Vol. 98, pp. 846-85).

Source: World Journal of Gastroenterology

Volume 13, Issue 40, Pages 5299-5305

" Effects and

mechanisms of silibinin on human hepatoma

cell lines "

Authors: J.J. Lah,

W. Cui, K.Q. Hu

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