Database Query Results : Silymarin (Milk Thistle) silibinin, , HDAC

SIL, Silymarin (Milk Thistle) silibinin: Click to Expand ⟱
Features:
Silymarin (Milk Thistle) Flowering herb related to daisy and ragweed family.
Silibinin (INN), also known as silybin is the major active constituent of silymarin, a standardized extract of the milk thistle seeds.
-a flavonoid combination of 65–80% of seven flavolignans; the most important of these include silybin, isosilybin, silychristin, isosilychristin, and silydianin. Silybin is the most abundant compound in around 50–70% in isoforms silybin A and silybin B

-Note half-life 6hrs?.
BioAv not soluble in water, low bioAv (1%). 240mg yielded only 0.34ug/ml plasma level. oral administration of SM (equivalent to 120 mg silibinin), total (unconjugated + conjugated) silibinin concentration in plasma was 1.1–1.3 μg/mL, so can not achieve levels used in most in-vitro studies.
Pathways:
- results for both inducing and reducing ROS in cancer cells. In normal cell seems to consistently lower ROS. Reports show both ROS↑ and ROS↓ in cancer models; systemic pro-oxidant effects may require higher exposures than typical oral dosing, but local or combination contexts may differ. (level in GUT could be much higher (800uM).
- ROS↑ related: MMP↓(ΔΨm), Ca+2↑, Cyt‑c↑, Caspases↑, DNA damage↑, cl-PARP↑,
- Raises AntiOxidant defense in Normal Cells: ROS↓, NRF2↑, SOD↑, GSH↑, Catalase↑,
- lowers Inflammation : NF-kB↓, COX2↓, p38↓(context-dependent; often stress-activated), Pro-Inflammatory Cytokines : NLRP3↓, IL-1β↓, TNF-α↓, IL-6↓, IL-8↓
- inhibit Growth/Metastases : TumMeta↓, TumCG↓, EMT↓, MMPs↓, MMP2↓, MMP9↓, TIMP2, uPA↓, VEGF↓, FAK↓, NF-κB↓, CXCR4↓, TGF-β↓, α-SMA↓, ERK↓
- reactivate genes thereby inhibiting cancer cell growth : HDAC↓, DNMTs↓, P53↑, HSP↓,
- cause Cell cycle arrest : TumCCA↑, cyclin D1↓, cyclin E↓, CDK2↓, CDK4↓,
- inhibits Migration/Invasion : TumCMig↓, TumCI↓, TNF-α↓, FAK↓, ERK↓, EMT↓,
- inhibits glycolysis and ATP depletion : HIF-1α↓, PKM2↓, cMyc↓, GLUT1↓, LDH↓, LDHA↓, HK2↓, PFKs↓, GRP78↑(ER stress), Glucose↓, GlucoseCon↓
- inhibits angiogenesis↓ : VEGF↓, HIF-1α↓, Notch↓, PDGF↓, EGFR↓,
- inhibits Cancer Stem Cells : CSC↓, Hh↓, GLi1↓, β-catenin↓, Notch2↓, OCT4↓,
- Others: PI3K↓, AKT↓, JAK↓, STAT↓, Wnt↓, β-catenin↓, AMPK, ERK↓, JNK, - SREBP (related to cholesterol).
- Synergies: chemo-sensitization, chemoProtective, RadioSensitizer, RadioProtective, Others(review target notes), Neuroprotective, Cognitive, Renoprotection, Hepatoprotective, CardioProtective,

- Selectivity: Cancer Cells vs Normal Cells

Rank Pathway / Axis Cancer Cells Normal Cells TSF Primary Effect Notes / Interpretation
1 ROS / redox buffering + mitochondrial protection Often ↑ stress susceptibility; can support apoptosis when survival signaling is blocked ↓ oxidative stress; mitochondrial protection P, R, G Context-selective redox modulation Silymarin is classically cytoprotective/antioxidant in normal tissues (notably liver), while in tumors it can weaken pro-survival adaptation and increase vulnerability to stressors and therapy.
2 Intrinsic apoptosis (mitochondria → caspases) ↑ apoptosis signaling; ↑ caspase activation ↔ minimal activation G Cell death execution Common downstream outcome in cancer models: apoptosis increases after earlier signaling/redox shifts and/or checkpoint disruption.
3 Cell-cycle control (cyclins/CDKs; checkpoints) ↑ arrest (G1/S or G2/M depending on model) ↔ G Cytostasis Typically observed as reduced proliferation with checkpoint engagement; timing usually later than kinase phosphorylation changes.
4 NF-κB inflammatory transcription ↓ NF-κB activity; ↓ inflammatory/pro-survival tone ↔ or protective anti-inflammatory effect R, G Anti-inflammatory / anti-survival transcription NF-κB suppression can reduce tumor-promoting inflammation and blunt stress-adaptive survival programs.
5 JAK/STAT3 axis (incl. PD-L1 / immune escape programs in some models) ↓ STAT3 signaling (context); may ↓ PD-L1 in certain tumor contexts ↔ R, G Reduced survival + immune-evasion signaling Reported to attenuate STAT3-driven tumor programs and, in some contexts, reduce immune-suppressive signaling (model dependent).
6 PI3K → AKT → mTOR survival / growth signaling ↓ PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling (context) ↔ R, G Growth/survival suppression Reduced PI3K/AKT/mTOR tone increases sensitivity to apoptosis and can reinforce cell-cycle arrest.
7 MAPK re-wiring (ERK/p38/JNK balance) Stress-MAPK shifts; ERK tone often reduced or re-patterned ↔ P, R, G Signal reprogramming Early phosphorylation shifts can precede later gene-expression changes; exact ERK direction is model and dose dependent.
8 Angiogenesis (VEGF and angiogenic factors) ↓ VEGF / angiogenesis outputs ↔ G Anti-angiogenic support Typically reflected in reduced pro-angiogenic expression/secretion and angiogenesis-related phenotypes over longer windows.
9 EMT / invasion / migration programs (incl. TGF-β/Smad-associated EMT in some systems) ↓ EMT markers; ↓ migration/invasion ↔ G Anti-invasive phenotype Often presents as restoration of epithelial markers and suppression of migration/invasion assays; commonly a later phenotype-level outcome.
10 Xenobiotic handling (Phase I/II enzymes; cytoprotection / chemoprevention framing) May alter carcinogen activation/detox balance ↑ detox / cytoprotection against xenobiotics G Chemopreventive protection A key “dual strategy” theme: protection of normal tissue from toxins/therapy while modulating tumor response pathways.
11 Drug resistance / efflux (MDR phenotype; P-gp-related resistance in some models) May ↓ functional MDR and ↑ chemo sensitivity (context) ↔ R, G Chemo-sensitization support Reported synergy with chemotherapy in resistant tumor settings; transporter direction can be context-specific, so present as “reported to reduce functional resistance” rather than a universal single-transporter claim.
12 Immune microenvironment signaling (cytokines / macrophage recruitment in some models) May ↓ pro-tumor cytokine programs and recruitment signals (context) ↔ G Anti-inflammatory tumor microenvironment shift Immune-modulatory effects are increasingly discussed, but they are more model-dependent and typically show on longer time scales.

Time-Scale Flag (TSF): P / R / G

  • P: 0–30 min (primary/physical–chemical effects; rapid signaling / phosphorylation shifts)
  • R: 30 min–3 hr (redox signaling + acute stress-response signaling)
  • G: >3 hr (gene-regulatory adaptation and phenotype-level outcomes)
HDAC, Histone deacetylases: Click to Expand ⟱
Source:
Type:
Enzymes involved in regulating gene expression by removing acetyl groups from histones, the proteins around which DNA is wrapped.
-Many cancers exhibit altered expression levels of HDACs, which can contribute to the dysregulation of genes involved in cell growth, survival, and differentiation.
-HDACs can repress the expression of tumor suppressor genes, leading to uncontrolled cell proliferation and survival. This repression can be a key factor in the development and progression of cancer.
-HDAC inhibitors (HDACi) have been developed and are being investigated for their ability to reactivate silenced genes, induce cell cycle arrest, and promote apoptosis in cancer cells.
-HDAC1, HDAC2): Often overexpressed in various cancers, including breast, prostate, and colorectal cancers. Their overexpression is associated with poor prognosis.
-HDAC4, HDAC5): These may have both oncogenic and tumor-suppressive roles depending on the context and cancer type.
-While HDACs are not classified as traditional oncogenes, their overexpression and activity can contribute to oncogenic processes.
-HDAC inhibitor works by preventing the removal of acetyl groups from histones, thereby modulating gene expression, influencing cell behavior, and potentially reversing aberrant gene silencing seen in various diseases.
-HDAC inhibitors can help reactivate these genes, thereby inhibiting growth and inducing apoptosis in cancer cells.
Scientific Papers found: Click to Expand⟱
3322- SIL,    Therapeutic intervention of silymarin on the migration of non-small cell lung cancer cells is associated with the axis of multiple molecular targets including class 1 HDACs, ZEB1 expression, and restoration of miR-203 and E-cadherin expression
- in-vitro, Lung, A549 - in-vitro, Lung, H1299 - in-vitro, Lung, H460
HDAC↓, associated with the inhibition of histone deacetylase (HDAC) activity and reduced levels of class 1 HDAC proteins (HDAC1, HDAC2, HDAC3 and HDAC8
HDAC1↓,
HDAC2↓,
HDAC3↓,
HDAC8↓,
HATs↑, and concomitant increases in the levels of histone acetyltransferase activity (HAT).
Zeb1↓, Treatment of A549 and H460 cells with silymarin reduced the expression of the transcription factor ZEB1 and restored expression of E-cadherin.
E-cadherin↑,
TumCMig↓, These findings indicate that silymarin can effectively inhibit lung cancer cell migration

3288- SIL,    Silymarin in cancer therapy: Mechanisms of action, protective roles in chemotherapy-induced toxicity, and nanoformulations
- Review, Var, NA
Inflam↓, Silymarin, a milk thistle extract, has anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, anti-lipid peroxidative, anti-fibrotic, anti-oxidative, and anti-proliferative properties.
lipid-P↓,
TumMeta↓, Silymarin exhibits not only anti-cancer functions through modulating various hallmarks of cancer, including cell cycle, metastasis, angiogenesis, apoptosis, and autophagy, by targeting a plethora of molecules
angioG↓,
chemoP↑, but also plays protective roles against chemotherapy-induced toxicity, such as nephrotoxicity,
EMT↓, Figure 2, Metastasis
HDAC↓,
HATs↑,
MMPs↓,
uPA↓,
PI3K↓,
Akt↓,
VEGF↓, Angiogenesis
CD31↓,
Hif1a↓,
VEGFR2↓,
Raf↓,
MEK↓,
ERK↓,
BIM↓, apoptosis
BAX↑,
Bcl-2↓,
Bcl-xL↓,
Casp↑,
MAPK↓,
P53↑,
LC3II↑, Autophagy
mTOR↓,
YAP/TEAD↓,
*BioAv↓, Additionally, the oral bioavailability of silymarin in rats is only 0.73 %
MMP↓, silymarin treatment reduced mitochondrial transmembrane potential, leading to an increase in cytosolic cytochrome c (Cyt c), downregulating proliferation-associated proteins (PCNA, c-Myc, cyclin D1, and β-catenin)
Cyt‑c↑,
PCNA↓,
cMyc↓,
cycD1/CCND1↓,
β-catenin/ZEB1↓,
survivin↓, and anti-apoptotic proteins (survivin and Bcl-2), and upregulating pro-apoptotic proteins (caspase-3, Bax, APAF-1, and p53)
APAF1↑,
Casp3↑,
MDSCs↓, ↓MDSCs, ↓IL-10, ↑IL-2 and IFN-γ
IL10↓,
IL2↑,
IFN-γ↑,
hepatoP↑, Moreover, in a randomized clinical trial, silymarin attenuated hepatoxicity in non-metastatic breast cancer patients undergoing a doxorubicin/cyclophosphamide-paclitaxel regimen
cardioP↑, For example, Rašković et al. studied the hepatoprotective and cardioprotective effects of silymarin (60 mg/kg orally) in rats following DOX
GSH↑, silymarin could protect the kidney and heart from ADR toxicity by protecting against glutathione (GSH) depletion and inhibiting lipid peroxidation
neuroP↑, silymarin attenuated the neurotoxicity of docetaxel by reducing apoptosis, inflammation, and oxidative stress

3282- SIL,    Role of Silymarin in Cancer Treatment: Facts, Hypotheses, and Questions
- Review, NA, NA
hepatoP↑, This group of flavonoids has been extensively studied and they have been used as hepato-protective substances
AntiCan↑, however, silymarin compounds have clear anticancer effects
TumCMig↓, decreasing migration through multiple targeting, decreasing hypoxia inducible factor-1α expression, i
Hif1a↓, In prostate cancer cells silibinin inhibited HIF-1α translation
selectivity↑, antitumoral activity of silymarin compounds is limited to malignant cells while the nonmalignant cells seem not to be affected
toxicity∅, long history of silymarin use in human diseases without toxicity after prolonged administration.
*antiOx↑, as an antioxidant, by scavenging prooxidant free radicals
*Inflam↓, antiinflammatory effects similar to those of indomethacin,
TumCCA↑, MDA-MB 486 breast cancer cells, G1 arrest was found due to increased p21 and decreased CDKs activity
P21↑,
CDK4↓,
NF-kB↓, human prostate carcinoma cells, silymarin decreased ligand binding to Erb1 135 and NF-kB expression was strongly inhibited by silymarin in hepatoma cell
ERK↓, human prostate carcinoma cells, silymarin decreased ligand binding to Erb1 135 and NF-kB expression was strongly inhibited by silymarin in hepatoma cell
PSA↓, Treating prostate carcinoma cells with silymarin the levels of PSA were significantly decreased and cell growth was inhibited through decreased CDK activity and induction of Cip1/p21 and Kip1/p27. 1
TumCG↓,
p27↑,
COX2↓, such as anti-COX2 and anti-IL-1α activity, 140 antiangiogenic effects through inhibition of VEGF secretion, upregulation of Insulin like Growth Factor Binding Protein 3 (IGFBP3), 141 and inhibition of androgen receptors.
IL1↓,
VEGF↓,
IGFBP3↑,
AR↓,
STAT3↓, downregulation of the STAT3 pathway which was seen in many cell models.
Telomerase↓, silymarin has the ability to decrease telomerase activity in prostate cancer cells
Cyt‑c↑, mitochondrial cytochrome C release-caspase activation.
Casp↑,
eff↝, Malignant p53 negative cells show only minimal apoptosis when treated with silymarin. Therefore, one conclusion is that silymarin may be useful in tumors with conserved p53.
HDAC↓, inhibit histone deacetylase activity;
HATs↑, increase histone acetyltransferase activity
Zeb1↓, reduce expression of the transcription factor ZEB1
E-cadherin↑, increase expression of E-cadherin;
miR-203↑, increase expression of miR-203
NHE1↓, reduce activation of sodium hydrogen isoform 1 exchanger (NHE1)
MMP2↓, target β catenin and reduce the levels of MMP2 and MMP9
MMP9↓,
PGE2↓, reduce activation of prostaglandin E2
Vim↓, suppress vimentin expression
Wnt↓, inhibit Wnt signaling
angioG↓, Silymarin inhibits angiogenesis.
VEGF↓, VEGF downregulation
*TIMP1↓, Silymarin has the capacity to decrease TIMP1 expression166–168 in mice.
EMT↓, found that silibinin had no effect on EMT. However, the opposite was found in other malignant tissues160–162 where it showed inhibitory effects.
TGF-β↓, Silibinin reduces the expression of TGF β2 in different tumors such as triple negative breast, 174 prostate, and colorectal cancers.
CD44↓, Silibinin decreased CD44 expression and the activation of EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor)
EGFR↓,
PDGF↓, silibinin had the ability to downregulate PDFG in fibroblasts, thus decreasing proliferation.
*IL8↓, Flavonoids, in general, reduce levels of IL-8. Curcumin, 200 apigenin, 201 and silybin showed the ability to decrease IL-8 levels
SREBP1↓, Silymarin inhibited STAT3 phosphorylation and decreased the expression of intranuclear sterol regulatory element binding protein 1 (SREBP1), decreasing lipid synthesis.
MMP↓, reduced membrane potential and ATP content
ATP↓,
uPA↓, silibinin decreased MMP2, MMP9, and urokinase plasminogen activator receptor level (uPAR) in neuroblastoma cells. uPAR is also a marker of cell invasion.
PD-L1↓, Silibinin inhibits PD-L1 by impeding STAT5 binding in NSCLC.
NOTCH↓, Silybin inhibited Notch signaling in hepatocellular carcinoma cells showing antitumoral effects
*SIRT1↑, Silymarin can also increase SIRT1 expression in other tissues, such as hippocampus, 221 articular chondrocytes, 222 and heart muscle
SIRT1↓, Silymarin seems to act differently in tumors: in lung cancer cells SIRT downregulated SIRT1 and exerted multiple antitumor effects such as reduced adhesion and migration and increased apoptosis.
CA↓, Silymarin has the ability to inhibit CA isoforms CA I and CA II.
Ca+2↑, ilymarin increases mitochondrial release of Ca++ and lowers mitochondrial membrane potential in cancer cell
chemoP↑, Silymarin: Decreasing Side Effects and Toxicity of Chemotherapeutic Drugs
cardioP↑, There is also evidence that it protects the heart from doxorubicin toxicity, however, it is less potent than quercetin in this effect.
Dose↝, oral administration of 240 mg of silybin to 6 healthy volunteers the following results were obtained 377 : maximum\,plasmaconcentration0.34±0.16⁢𝜇⁢g/m⁢L
Half-Life↝, and time to maximum plasma concentration 1.32 ± 0.45 h. Absorption half life 0.17 ± 0.09 h, elimination half life 6.32 ± 3.94 h
BioAv↓, silymarin is not soluble in water and oral administration shows poor absorption in the alimentary tract (approximately 1% in rats,
BioAv↓, Our conclusion is that, from a bioavailability standpoint, it is much easier to achieve migration inhibition, than proliferative reduction.
BioAv↓, Combination with succinate: is available on the market under the trade mark Legalon® (bis hemisuccinate silybin). Combination with phosphatidylcholine:
toxicity↝, 13 g daily per os divided into 3 doses was well tolerated. The most frequent adverse event was asymptomatic liver toxicity.
Half-Life↓, It may be necessary to administer 800 mg 4 times a day because the half-life is short.
ROS↓, its ability as an antioxidant reduces ROS production
FAK↓, Silibinin decreased human osteosarcoma cell invasion through Erk inhibition of a FAK/ERK/uPA/MMP2 pathway


* indicates research on normal cells as opposed to diseased cells
Total Research Paper Matches: 3

Pathway results for Effect on Cancer / Diseased Cells:


Redox & Oxidative Stress ⓘ

GSH↑, 1,   lipid-P↓, 1,   ROS↓, 1,  

Mitochondria & Bioenergetics ⓘ

ATP↓, 1,   MEK↓, 1,   MMP↓, 2,   Raf↓, 1,  

Core Metabolism/Glycolysis ⓘ

cMyc↓, 1,   SIRT1↓, 1,   SREBP1↓, 1,  

Cell Death ⓘ

Akt↓, 1,   APAF1↑, 1,   BAX↑, 1,   Bcl-2↓, 1,   Bcl-xL↓, 1,   BIM↓, 1,   Casp↑, 2,   Casp3↑, 1,   Cyt‑c↑, 2,   MAPK↓, 1,   p27↑, 1,   survivin↓, 1,   Telomerase↓, 1,   YAP/TEAD↓, 1,  

Transcription & Epigenetics ⓘ

HATs↑, 3,  

Autophagy & Lysosomes ⓘ

LC3II↑, 1,  

DNA Damage & Repair ⓘ

P53↑, 1,   PCNA↓, 1,  

Cell Cycle & Senescence ⓘ

CDK4↓, 1,   cycD1/CCND1↓, 1,   P21↑, 1,   TumCCA↑, 1,  

Proliferation, Differentiation & Cell State ⓘ

CD44↓, 1,   EMT↓, 2,   ERK↓, 2,   HDAC↓, 3,   HDAC1↓, 1,   HDAC2↓, 1,   HDAC3↓, 1,   HDAC8↓, 1,   IGFBP3↑, 1,   mTOR↓, 1,   NOTCH↓, 1,   PI3K↓, 1,   STAT3↓, 1,   TumCG↓, 1,   Wnt↓, 1,  

Migration ⓘ

CA↓, 1,   Ca+2↑, 1,   CD31↓, 1,   E-cadherin↑, 2,   FAK↓, 1,   miR-203↑, 1,   MMP2↓, 1,   MMP9↓, 1,   MMPs↓, 1,   PDGF↓, 1,   TGF-β↓, 1,   TumCMig↓, 2,   TumMeta↓, 1,   uPA↓, 2,   Vim↓, 1,   Zeb1↓, 2,   β-catenin/ZEB1↓, 1,  

Angiogenesis & Vasculature ⓘ

angioG↓, 2,   EGFR↓, 1,   Hif1a↓, 2,   VEGF↓, 3,   VEGFR2↓, 1,  

Barriers & Transport ⓘ

NHE1↓, 1,  

Immune & Inflammatory Signaling ⓘ

COX2↓, 1,   IFN-γ↑, 1,   IL1↓, 1,   IL10↓, 1,   IL2↑, 1,   Inflam↓, 1,   MDSCs↓, 1,   NF-kB↓, 1,   PD-L1↓, 1,   PGE2↓, 1,   PSA↓, 1,  

Hormonal & Nuclear Receptors ⓘ

AR↓, 1,  

Drug Metabolism & Resistance ⓘ

BioAv↓, 3,   Dose↝, 1,   eff↝, 1,   Half-Life↓, 1,   Half-Life↝, 1,   selectivity↑, 1,  

Clinical Biomarkers ⓘ

AR↓, 1,   EGFR↓, 1,   PD-L1↓, 1,   PSA↓, 1,  

Functional Outcomes ⓘ

AntiCan↑, 1,   cardioP↑, 2,   chemoP↑, 2,   hepatoP↑, 2,   neuroP↑, 1,   toxicity↝, 1,   toxicity∅, 1,  
Total Targets: 99

Pathway results for Effect on Normal Cells:


Redox & Oxidative Stress ⓘ

antiOx↑, 1,  

Core Metabolism/Glycolysis ⓘ

SIRT1↑, 1,  

Migration ⓘ

TIMP1↓, 1,  

Immune & Inflammatory Signaling ⓘ

IL8↓, 1,   Inflam↓, 1,  

Drug Metabolism & Resistance ⓘ

BioAv↓, 1,  
Total Targets: 6

Scientific Paper Hit Count for: HDAC, Histone deacetylases
3 Silymarin (Milk Thistle) silibinin
Query results interpretion may depend on "conditions" listed in the research papers.
Such Conditions may include : 
  -low or high Dose
  -format for product, such as nano of lipid formations
  -different cell line effects
  -synergies with other products 
  -if effect was for normal or cancerous cells

Filter Conditions: Pro/AntiFlg:%  IllCat:%  CanType:%  Cells:%  prod#:154  Target#:140  State#:%  Dir#:%
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