Evaluation of the Silymarin Effect on IL-10 and IL-17 Production in Chronic HCV Infected Patients

Background and aims: the use of herbal remedies, either in combination with conventional drugs or as an alternative, is accepted worldwide. silymarin derived from milk thistle has evidence-based therapeutic potency for wide spectrum of liver diseases. the current work aimed to study the immune-modulating activity of silymarin in hcv-infected patients by measuring the effect of pure silymarin solution on the production of il-17 and il-10. materials and methods: nine hcv-1a infected patients and three healthy controls were entered in this study. the mean age of patients and healthy controls were 45.53 (± 10.21) and 39.9 (±10.88), respectively. the pbmcs were isolated, cultured in 96-well plate and incubated with silymarin solution (5μg/ml) for 24 hours. the cells and cell culture supernatant of three groups including patients treated with silymarin, non-treated patients, and healthy controls were then subjected to real time pcr and elisa to measure the levels of inflammatory and non-inflammatory cytokines including il-17 and il-10, respectively. statistical analysis was conducted using spss software version 20.0. results: according to real time pcr and elisa results, the level of il-17 was significantly reduced in patients treated with silymarin while the expression of il-10 was remarkably increased in these patients. conclusion: the results of this study approved the immunomodulatory properties of silymarin in hcv-infected patients. hepatoprotective, antiviral, as well as immunemodulatory properties of the silymarin make it a potential therapeutic option in patients with chronic hepatitis c.