TABLE 3

Metabolic profiles of the free (unconjugated), conjugated (sulfated and glucuronidated), and total (free and conjugated) silymarin flavonolignans in human plasma near T_max Plasma samples were pooled from three healthy volunteers near the peak times (1–3 h) for each flavonolignans after a single oral administration of 600 mg of standardized milk thistle extracts. Enzyme hydrolysis and quantification of the free, sulfated, glucuronidated, and total silymarin flavonolignans were performed as described under Materials and Methods. Data are expressed as the mean of duplicates. The value for silymarin is the sum of six flavonolignans.