TABLE 1

Pharmacokinetic parameters of silybin A, silybin B, isosilybin A, isosilybin B, silychristin, silydianin, and taxifolin after single oral doses of milk thistle capsules (Legalon)

The Tmax values are expressed as median (range) and others are the mean ± S.D. (n = 13).

One CapsuleTwo CapsulesThree Capsules
Silybin A (21.2 mg/capsule)
Tmax (h)1.5 (0.5–8.0)1.0 (0.5–4)1.0 (0.5–4)
Cmax (ng/ml)106.9 ± 49.2200.5 ± 98.3299.3 ± 101.7
t1/2 (h)1.6 ± 0.51.8 ± 0.51.9 ± 0.5
 AUC0–24h (ng×h/ml)231.2 ± 91.6462.3 ± 222.2737.3 ± 270.0
 AUC0–∞ (ng×h/ml)233.5 ± 92.1466.1 ± 222.4744.3 ± 269.7
 CL/F (l/h)108.9 ± 53.5109.9 ± 45.296.9 ± 37.3
 V/F (l)244.5 ± 108.2281.8 ± 130.9259.4 ± 127.0
Silybin B (29.5 mg/capsule)
Tmax (h)1.5 (0.5–6.0)1.0 (0.5–4)1.0 (0.5–4)
Cmax (ng/ml)30.5 ± 16.374.5 ± 45.7121.0 ± 52.2
t1/2 (h)2.4 ± 0.72.6 ± 0.82.2 ± 0.8
 AUC0–24h (ng×h/ml)63.6 ± 27.3150.4 ± 94.0279.1 ± 129.7
 AUC0–∞ (ng×h/ml)65.6 ± 27.1155.2 ± 96.2285.8 ± 130.8
 CL/F (l–/h)554.6 ± 298.5514.8 ± 252.5377.6 ± 130.8
 V/F (l)1944.0 ± 1307.71945.4 ± 1171.31190.8 ± 676.4
Isosilybin A (11.4 mg/capsule)
Tmax (h)1.0 (0.5–6.0)1.0 (0.5–3.0)1.0 (0.5–3.0)
Cmax (ng/ml)6.1 ± 2.918.2 ± 13.524.7 ± 11.8
t1/2 (h)ND3.2 ± 1.52.8 ± 1.3
 AUC0–24h (ng×h/ml)ND33.6 ± 21.057.2 ± 28.7
 AUC0–∞ (ng×h/ml)ND36.4 ± 21.661.1 ± 28.6
 CL/F (l/h)ND899.8 ± 560.1675.6 ± 297.6
 V/F (l)ND3781.1 ± 1961.42883.4 ± 2281.9
Isosilybin B (8.2 mg/capsule)
Tmax (h)1.5 (0.5–8.0)1.0 (0.5–4.0)1.0 (0.5–4.0)
Cmax (ng/ml)22.0 ± 10.746.4 ± 31.075.8 ± 32.3
t1/2 (h)1.9 ± 0.62.0 ± 0.71.9 ± 0.6
 AUC0–24h (ng×h/ml)40.4 ± 17.790.1 ± 53.6158.6 ± 72.1
 AUC0–∞ (ng×h/ml)42.8 ± 17.691.9 ± 54.0162.1 ± 72.5
 CL/F (l/h)237.9 ± 138.7236.3 ± 119.3183.5 ± 85.6
 V/F (l)662.0 ± 430.5677.2 ± 353.9506.4 ± 251.4
Silychristin (31.5 mg/capsule)
Tmax (h)ND1.5 (0.5–4.0)1.5 (0.5–4.0)
Cmax (ng/ml)ND4.6 ± 1.18.5 ± 3.4
t1/2 (h)NDND2.7 ± 1.5
 AUC0–24h (ng×h/ml)NDND32.9 ± 14.3
 AUC0–∞ (ng×h/ml)NDND36.6 ± 14.6
 CL/F (l/h)NDND2987.6 ± 1158.0
 V/F (l)NDND11,079.9 ± 5506.1
Silydianin (36.4 mg/capsule)
Tmax (h)NDND1.5 (0.5–9.0)
Cmax (ng/ml)NDND6.4 ± 3.8
 t1/2 (h)NDNDND
 AUC0–24h (ng×h/ml)NDNDND
 AUC0–∞ (ng×h/ml)NDNDND
 CL/F (l/h)NDNDND
 V/F (l)NDNDND
Taxifolin (5.9 mg/capsule)
Tmax (h)NDND1.0 (0.5–3.0)
Cmax (ng/ml)NDND5.1 ± 2.7
t1/2 (h)NDNDND
 AUC0–24h (ng×h/ml)NDNDND
 AUC0–∞ (ng×h/ml)NDNDND
 CL/F (l/h)NDNDND
 V/F (l)NDNDND
  • ND, not determined due to the plasma concentrations were below the low limits of quantification.