ReviewFrontiers in pharmacology2026
Phytochemical basis, multitarget pharmacology, and translational perspectives of silymarin: emphasis on its antifibrotic effects.
Review in Frontiers in pharmacology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
This review critically evaluates the antifibrotic potential of silymarin by integrating its phytochemical composition, formulation-dependent exposure, molecular pharmacology, cross-organ preclinical evidence, and clinical translation, while distinguishing multicomponent silymarin extracts from purified silybin/silibinin and delivery-enhanced preparations. A structured, non-systematic evidence-mapping search of PubMed/MEDLINE, Web of Science, and Scopus covered English-language literature through December 2025. A targeted update of PubMed/MEDLINE and publisher records was performed through 9 August 2026, focusing on fibrosis, pharmacokinetics, formulation, drug delivery, ferroptosis, succinate metabolism, ANXA6, and related mechanisms. Preclinical studies indicate that silymarin-related interventions can modulate TGF-β/Smad signaling, oxidative and inflammatory pathways, fibroblast activation, myofibroblast differentiation, and extracellular-matrix turnover. Recent work has added hepatocyte succinate handling, FTH1-related ferroptosis, and ANXA6-associated stress signaling. Antifibrotic activity has been reported in liver, kidney, lung, peritoneal, and skin models, whereas human evidence remains limited and heterogeneous. Product composition, oral exposure, formulation, and endpoint selection may contribute to discordant clinical findings. Silymarin has biologically plausible multitarget antifibrotic activity, but current evidence does not establish it as an antifibrotic therapy. Future studies should use chemically defined preparations, exposure-informed dosing, validated target engagement, and fibrosis-centered outcomes.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.