Silymarin, a popular dietary supplement shows anti-candida activity. - GreenMedInfo Summary
Silymarin, a Popular Dietary Supplement Shows Anti-Activity.
Antibiotics (Basel). 2019 Oct 31 ;8(4). Epub 2019 Oct 31. PMID: 31683548
Monika Janeczko
Silymarin is a complex of plant-derived compounds obtained from the seed shells of the milk thistle (. It is used in medicine primarily to protect the liver. The mixture contains mainly flavonolignans, with silybin as a paramount bioactive component of the extract. This article presents the potential health benefits for silymarin as an antifungal drug against five references strains:,,, andwith MIC (minimum inhibitory concentration) values ranging from 30 to 300µg/mL. Additionally, this study revealed that the compound suppressed the growth of cells of most of the tested clinicalstrains with MIC values between 30 and 1200µg/mL. Based on the fractional inhibitory concentration index (FICI), the combination of silymarin with antifungal drugs caspofungin, fluconazole, and amphotericin B did not significantly change the MIC values for the testedstrains. Furthermore, no antagonistic reactions were observed in any combination of drugs. In addition, this substance shows anti-virulence properties including the destabilization of mature biofilm and the inhibition of the secretion of hydrolases. qRT-PCR-based experiments demonstrated that thegene involved in virulence was downregulated by silymarin. These results indicate completely new advantages of dietary supplementation with this natural plant extract.