["Silymarin"--an extract from the milk thistle (Silybum marianum)--is it a drug or nutritional supplement?]

Ceska Slov Farm. 2001 Mar;50(2):66-9.
[Article in Czech]

Abstract

Thanks to the new knowledge, there is an increase of interest in plant extracts in the developed countries, but their classification is, however, problematic. It is necessary to clearly define the borderline between a drug or a defined content of an individual active principle, and a nutritional supplement, which is freely on sale. The extract from the seeds of S. marianum of (ESM) shows biological effects corresponding to nutritional supplements, and it is therefore more logical to class ESM with this group and to investigate the pharmacological effects in its chemically defined components.

Publication types

  • English Abstract

MeSH terms

  • Dietary Supplements*
  • Humans
  • Plant Extracts* / chemistry
  • Plant Extracts* / pharmacology
  • Plant Extracts* / therapeutic use
  • Plants, Medicinal*
  • Silymarin / chemistry
  • Silymarin / pharmacology
  • Silymarin / therapeutic use*

Substances

  • Plant Extracts
  • Silymarin