Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of Milan, Italy.
Planta Med. 2023 May;89(6):584-607. doi: 10.1055/a-1969-2440. Epub 2022 Oct 27.
Milk thistle, , is a medicinal plant grown for its bioactive compounds with well-documented antioxidant and hepatoprotective properties. Milk thistle has a well-established pharmacological reputation for treatments of human liver disease, but it is also used in animals. This review summarizes the experimental evidence of milk thistle's effects on animals when administered as silymarin extract (feed additive) or a feed ingredient, if administered as seed or expeller/cake with the seed residue still containing the bioactive components. The use as a feed additive or feed ingredient is motivated by the complexity of silymarin registration as a veterinary drug. In farm animals, the drug improves the animals' performance and product quality and oxidative stability, supports liver function during the productive life-cycle, improves gut-health and morphology, and can reduce intestinal pathogens. In dogs and cats, the treatment is focused on acute and chronic liver diseases including the detoxification processes and support of drug treatments including chemotherapy. In equine athletes, milk seed cake showed positive effects and a faster return of cortisol to the resting values before exercise occurred. In aquaculture, it confirms its usefulness in supporting animal health and performance. In certain studies it is not clear what has been administered, and the composition and doses are not always clearly reported. A few studies reported no effects, but none reported problems connected to milk thistle administration. However, the overall picture shows that the use of milk thistle results in improved or restored health parameters or better animal performance.
水飞蓟，是一种药用植物，因其具有良好的抗氧化和保肝特性的生物活性化合物而被广泛种植。水飞蓟在治疗人类肝脏疾病方面具有良好的药理学声誉，但也被用于动物。本综述总结了水飞蓟以水飞蓟宾提取物（饲料添加剂）或饲料成分（如果作为种子或压出/蛋糕与种子残渣仍含有生物活性成分）给药时对动物的影响的实验证据。将其作为饲料添加剂或饲料成分使用的动机是由于水飞蓟宾作为兽药注册的复杂性。在农场动物中，该药物可改善动物的生产性能和产品质量以及氧化稳定性，在整个生产生命周期中支持肝脏功能，改善肠道健康和形态，并减少肠道病原体。在犬和猫中，该治疗主要针对急性和慢性肝脏疾病，包括解毒过程以及支持化疗等药物治疗。在赛马中，水飞蓟种子饼显示出积极的效果，并且在运动前皮质醇更快地恢复到休息值。在水产养殖中，它证实了其在支持动物健康和性能方面的有用性。在某些研究中，不清楚使用了什么，而且成分和剂量并不总是明确报告。有一些研究报告没有效果，但没有报告与水飞蓟给药有关的问题。然而，总体情况表明，使用水飞蓟可改善或恢复健康参数或提高动物的生产性能。
