Effect of silymarin in diabetes mellitus patients with liver diseases

The liver is involved in the maintenance of homeostasis within the body. Other functions of the liver include protein synthesis, storage and metabolism of fats and carbohydrates, detoxification and excretion of drug and other toxins. Diabetes developed as a complication of cirrhosis is known as hepatogenous diabetes. Around 30–60% of cirrhotic patients suffer from this metabolic disorder. There is a high prevalence of metabolic syndrome, obesity, and type 2 diabetes mellitus with cryptogenic cirrhosis. Several reports have claimed a specific association between hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and type 2 diabetes, but in most instances patients were a mixture of cases with cirrhosis, hepatitis and diabetes. Silymarin is a hepatoprotective drug obtained from Silibum marium. Silymarin is reported to have different properties like hepatoprotective activity, anti-inflammatory activity, antioxidant activity, and anti-cancer activity. Previous reports of both pre-clinical and clinical studies revealed that silymarin has got some anti-diabetic potential. Considering all the above reports and keeping the evidences in mind, this study was undertaken with the objective to assess the effect of silymarin in diabetes mellitus patients with hepatic diseases.