In 1984, a team of researchers set out to answer a question that sounds almost too dramatic for a laboratory.
Personally, I don’t like any research that involves animals, but in this case, it has likely saved many lives.
Amanita phalloides, the death cap, is the most toxic mushroom and its toxins target mainly liver cells. Dogs find these mushrooms in parks and backyards every fall, and sadly many don't survive.
The researchers were trying to figure out if silibinin, the most active compound in milk thistle seeds could protect the liver, and the findings were undeniable.
The dogs given silibinin were protected. They had far less liver damage, their blood clotting stayed more stable, and their lives were saved.
Around the same time, doctors in Europe started giving silibinin to people poisoned by the same mushroom. In one report of 18 patients, 17 survived! The one person who died had eaten an extremely large amount on purpose.
So how does, milk thistle, a common roadside weed do this?
The research points to three things.
Silibinin blocks the doorway that toxins use to get into liver cells. It helps the liver keep up its supply of glutathione, the body's own master antioxidant. And it stimulates protein production inside liver cells, which helps them repair and regenerate.
Most dogs will never eat a death cap. But every liver, human or canine, needs to handle toxin exposure every day: medications, pesticides, flea and tick products, processed food and polluted air.
That's why a study from UC Davis caught my attention.
Researchers followed 50 dogs on a chemotherapy drug that is known to be hard on the liver. Half of them also got silybin. Severe liver enzyme spikes showed up in 28% of the dogs on chemotherapy alone, but in only 4% of the dogs receiving liver support.
There's one catch, and it matters.
On its own, milk thistle is poorly absorbed. Studies in dogs show that the way it's formulated makes a real difference to how much reaches the bloodstream.
The liver also works best with a team, which is why I never rely on milk thistle alone.
In my blog post, I go deeper and explain how milk thistle works together with other liver herbs, and why I recommend regular liver support instead of waiting for a problem to show up.
Here is the full scoop on liver disease and liver support.
Sources:
- Vogel et al. 1984, Protection by silibinin against Amanita phalloides intoxication in beagles (abstract page)
- Silibinin in human Amanita poisoning, 18 cases (PubMed)
- Skorupski et al. 2011, JVIM: Denamarin and CCNU hepatotoxicity in 50 dogs
- Review: Milk thistle and its derivative compounds (mechanisms, dog bioavailability studies)
- Silibinin and RNA/protein synthesis in rat livers (PubMed)
- Milk thistle monograph, Alternative Medicine Review (glutathione, history)
