Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Short Communication
  • Published:

The iron-chelating potential of silybin in patients with hereditary haemochromatosis

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 64, pages 1239–1241 (2010)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Milk thistle contains silybin, which is a potential iron chelator. We aimed to determine whether silybin reduced iron absorption in patients with hereditary haemochromatosis. In this crossover study, on three separate occasions, 10 patients who were homozygous for the C282Y mutation in the HFE gene (and fully treated) consumed a vegetarian meal containing 13.9 mg iron with: 200 ml water; 200 ml water and 140 mg silybin (Legalon Forte); or 200 ml tea. Blood was drawn once before, then 0.5, 1, 2, 3 and 4 h after the meal. Consumption of silybin with a meal resulted in a reduction in the postprandial increase in serum iron (AUC±s.e.) compared with water (silybin 1726.6±346.8 versus water 2988.8±167; P<0.05) and tea (silybin 1726.6±346.8 versus tea 2099.3±223.3; P<0.05). In conclusion, silybin has the potential to reduce iron absorption, and this deserves further investigation, as silybin could be an adjunct in the treatment of haemochromatosis.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bares JM, Berger J, Nelson JE, Messner DJ, Schildt S, Standish LJ et al. (2008). Silybin treatment is associated with reductionin serum ferritin in patients with chronic hepatitis C. J Clin Gastroenterol 42, 937–944.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Borsari M, Gabbi C, Ghelfi F, Grandi R, Saladini M, Severi S et al. (2001). Silybin, a new iron-chelating agent. J Inorg Biochem 85, 123–129.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Conway RE, Geissler CA, Hider RC, Thompson RPH, Powell JJ (2006). Measurement of dietary iron bioavailability using serum iron curves. J Nutr 136, 1910–1914.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cook JD, Monsen ER (1977). Vitamin C, the common cold and iron absorption. Am J Clin Nutr 30, 235–241.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gharagozloo M, Moayedi B, Zakerinia M, Hamidi M, Karimi M, Maracy M et al. (2009). Combined therapy of silymarin and desferrioxamine in patients with β-thalassaemia major: a randomised double-blind clinical trial. Fundam Clin Pharmacol 23, 359–365.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Holland B, Welch AA, Unwin ID, Buss DH, Paul AA, Southgate DAT (1991). McCance and Widdowson's the Composition of Foods, 5th edn. The Royal Society of Chemistry and Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Foods: London p 462.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoppe M, Hulthen L, Hallberg L (2004). The validation of using serum iron increase to measure iron absorption in human subjects. Br J Nutr 92, 485–488.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hurrell RF, Reddy M, Cook JD (1999). Inhibition of non-haem iron absorption in man by polyphenolic-containing beverages. Br J Nutr 81, 289–295.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hutchinson C, Geissler CA, Powell JJ, Bomford A (2007). Proton pump inhibitors suppress absorption of dietary non-haem iron in hereditary haemochromatosis. Gut 56, 1291–1295.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Kaltwasser JP, Werner E, Schalk K, Hansen C, Gottschalk R, Seidl C (1998). Clinical trial on the effect of regular tea drinking on iron accumulation in genetic haemochromatosis. Gut 43, 699–704.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The experimental work described in this paper was performed at the request of the Haemochromatosis Society and we thank Janet Fernau and Kit Farrow for inviting members of the Society to participate in the iron absorption studies. We are grateful to the Haemochromatosis Society for providing funding for this study. We also thank Dr Ulrich Mengs for donating Legalon Forte 140 mg capsules on behalf of Madaus GmbH, Germany and staff of the Blood Sciences Laboratory, King's College Hospital, London for measuring full blood count and serum ferritin.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nutritional Sciences Division, The Iron Metabolism Interdisciplinary Research Group, Franklin-Wilkins Building, King's College London, London, UK

    C Hutchinson, A Bomford & C A Geissler

  2. MRC Human Nutrition Research, Cambridge, UK

    C Hutchinson

Authors
  1. C Hutchinson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. A Bomford
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. C A Geissler
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to A Bomford.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Hutchinson, C., Bomford, A. & Geissler, C. The iron-chelating potential of silybin in patients with hereditary haemochromatosis. Eur J Clin Nutr 64, 1239–1241 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2010.136

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2010.136

Keywords

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links