Phytotherapy with Silymarin: A Clinical Trial on Infants with Jaundice

Objective: In this study, we aim to investigate the effects of silymarin in terms of reducing bilirubinemia in infants with hypercholesterolemia and under phototherapy. Materials and Methods: In this study, 180 infants were randomly assigned to three groups. The intervention was performed with silymarin in the case group. The case, positive, and negative control groups underwent phytotherapy, while the negative control group did not have any treatment; meanwhile, the case group was orally administered with 4 mg/kg silymarin once every 12 h as well. The tests consisted of alanine aminotransferase (SGPT), alanine transaminase (SGOT), albumin levels at baseline and completion of the intervention, and TSB at baseline and then after 24-h intervals up to the infants' discharge. Results: As per our findings, a significant difference was noted in terms of the duration of hospital stay between the case and control groups (p<0.001) in favor of the case group. Although there was no significant difference in certain factors such as total albumin, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and bilirubin between the case and positive groups (p>0.05), a significant difference was observed between the case group and the positive control with the negative control group. Conclusion: Administering silymarin on infants with hypercholesterolemia (bilirubin factor) and under phytotherapy can be effective alongside the main therapies, as a significant difference was observed between the case and positive control groups in terms of length of hospital stay (but not with the control group), which indicates the effect of silymarin on hyperbilirubinuria.