Authors : Ali Aliabadi, Alireza Yousefi, Amirashkan Mahjoor and Maryam Farahmand
Abstract: Milk thistle is native to the Mediterranean region. The plant’s leaves and seeds have been used continuously since, at least Greco-Roman days for treating many ailments particularly those that affect the liver. Silymarin and silybin used so far mostly as hepatoprotectants were shown to have other interesting activities. These activities were demonstrated in a large variety of illnesses of different organs as e.g., prostate, lungs, CNS, kidneys, pancreas and others. Besides the cytoprotective activity of silybin mediated by its antioxidative and radical-scavenging properties also new activities based on the specific receptor interaction were discovered e.g., inhibition and modulation of drug transporters, P-glycoproteins, estrogenic receptors, nuclear receptors and some others. The objective of the study is to evaluate the diabetic wound healing activity of Silybum marianum using the excision wound model in a streptozotocin induced diabetic rats. The animals were weight matched and placed into seven groups (n = 10 group). Group I, normal control rats. Group II, normal scheme rats which were treated with simple ointment base. Groups III and IV, diabetic control and scheme. Groups V-VII, diabetic test rats which were treated with 5, 10 and 20% silymarin ointment. All animals were experimentally wounded on the posterior surface. The efficacy of treatment was evaluated based on wound area relative and histopathological characteristics. The silymarin ointment treated diabetic animals showed significant reduction in the wound area when compared with diabetic control and all other groups. Also, histological studies of the tissue obtained on day 7th and 15th from the treatment groups by silymarin ointment showed increased well organized bands of collagen, more fibroblasts and few inflammatory cells. There was no significant (p<0.05) difference between treatment groups. These findings demonstrate that 5, 10 and 20% ointment of silymarin effectively stimulates wound contraction as compared to control group and other groups and may be useful in treatment of diabetic wounds.
Ali Aliabadi, Alireza Yousefi, Amirashkan Mahjoor and Maryam Farahmand, 2011. Evaluation of Wound Healing Activity of Silymarin (Silybum marianum) in Streptozotocin Induced Experimental Diabetes in Rats. Journal of Animal and Veterinary Advances, 10: 3287-3292.