REVIEW article
Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Ethnopharmacology
This article is part of the Research TopicNutraceuticals and Medicinal Plants for Preventive Health Care: Integrative Approaches from Ethnopharmacology to Regulatory Science and Applications in Human Health and DiseaseView all 12 articles
Silymarin as a phytopharmaceutical agent: Advances in mechanistic insights, formulation strategies, and pre-clinical applications
Provisionally accepted
- National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Raebareli, India
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Abstract Silymarin, extracted from the seeds of Silybum marianum (milk thistle), has been utilised in traditional medicine for many years and is recognised for its neuroprotective and hepatoprotective properties. Existing research reveals that silymarin has potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, coupled with anti-fibrotic, anti-carcinogenic, neuro-regenerative, and immunomodulatory actions, and has broad therapeutic relevance in both neurological and hepatic disorders, albeit with the drawback of low solubility. Silymarin participates in multiple molecular and cellular pathways to show its therapeutic effect. Nanocarriers are a promising solution to silymarin's low solubility and limited bioavailability, aiming to enhance targeted delivery to the central nervous system and hepatic tissue. These developments position silymarin as a multi-domain phytopharmaceutical with significant translational potential. This review provides an overview of silymarin's historical context, phytochemical composition, and pharmacokinetic profile, with a particular focus on targeted drug delivery systems. Special emphasis is placed on its potential role in managing various diseases.
Keywords: Silymarin, Herbal moiety, Neuro-regenerative medicine, immunomodulator, nanocarrier, Cellular pathway
Received: 23 Sep 2025; Accepted: 13 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Sayyad, Sutar, Shivhare, Shukla and Flora. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Dr Swaran J.S. Flora, sjsflora@hotmail.com
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.