Liver, kidney and digestion
Silymarinand Alanine aminotransferase (ALT)
All three sources here measured lower alanine aminotransferase (ALT).
How sure anyone can be
Moderate certainty, level 3 of 4Further research may change this.
The most certain of the three findings here; each record carries its own.
The numbers reported
One source’s range, drawn against its own line of no difference and scaled to its own numbers.
-10.62-7.21-3.8
This range stays on one side of the no-difference line.
Three sources, newest first
What we read is the published abstract, not the full paper, so a blank below may still be printed in the paper itself. A fixed rule worked this out from the source’s own fields. Nobody checked this rating by hand.
Systematic review, 2025 · 6 studies pooled · 409 participants
Moderate certainty, level 3 of 4Silymarin for adults with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease.
Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2025;6(6):CD015524. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD015524.pub2. PMID:40552569.
This source later carried a notice: Update of doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD015524. The number below is exactly as the source gave it.
- Number reported
- -7.21
- Which way it went
- Lower
- Likely range
- -10.62 to -3.8
- Source’s own words
- U/L ALT mean difference, silymarin monotherapy vs no intervention or placebo
- Who was studied
- Adult with MASLD
- Compared with
- no intervention or placebo
- Amount taken
- Not in the abstract
- For how long
- 28 to 336 days
- Disagreement between studies
- Not in the abstract
- Kind of record
- Journal article
How this rating was reachedstarts at High, one step down: risk of bias
- Starts at High
- Risk of bias brought it down to Moderatethe abstract's own appraisal reports serious study limitationsReported in the abstract
- Ends at ModerateOne step down.
- Checked, nothing to step it down for
- indirectness and imprecision
- Inconsistency
- No high disagreement reported between the 6 studies it pooled
AI-reviewed & signed — an AI agent re-read this finding against the saved source and checked that the quote, the numbers, the units and the direction match it. No person read it. The owner authorised the agent to sign the batch with the owner's key, and every build rechecks that signature against these exact bytes.
Systematic review, 2024
Moderate certainty, level 3 of 4Effects of silymarin use on liver enzymes and metabolic factors in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Can Liver J. 2024;7(1):40-53. doi:10.3138/canlivj-2023-0021. PMID:38505782.
- Number reported
- -17.12
- Which way it went
- Lower
- Likely range
- -28.81 to -4.43
- Source’s own words
- U/L ALT mean difference vs control (comparator arms not detailed in the abstract)
- Who was studied
- Adult with MASLD
- Compared with
- control (comparator arms not detailed in the abstract)
- Amount taken
- Not in the abstract
- For how long
- Not in the abstract
- Disagreement between studies
- Not in the abstract
- Kind of record
- Journal article
How this rating was reachedstarts at High, one step down: imprecision
- Starts at High
- Imprecision brought it down to Moderatethe abstract does not state how many participants were pooledNot in the abstract
- Ends at ModerateOne step down.
- Checked, nothing to step it down for
- risk of bias and indirectness
- Inconsistency
- No disagreement reported, and no count of studies behind it
Imprecision stops at the first check that applies; others may apply too.
AI review could not confirm it — an AI agent re-read this finding against the saved source and at least one check failed. The batch record names the check and quotes the sentence that caused the doubt. No person read it.
Systematic review, 2017
Moderate certainty, level 3 of 4The therapeutic effect of silymarin in the treatment of nonalcoholic fatty disease: A meta-analysis (PRISMA) of randomized control trials.
Medicine (Baltimore). 2017;96(49):e9061. doi:10.1097/MD.0000000000009061. PMID:29245314.
- Number reported
- -9.16
- Which way it went
- Lower
- Likely range
- -16.24 to -2.08
- Source’s own words
- U/L ALT mean difference vs control (the source prints the unit as 'UI/L')
- Who was studied
- Adult with NAFLD
- Compared with
- control group (composition not stated in the abstract)
- Amount taken
- Not in the abstract
- For how long
- Not in the abstract
- Disagreement between studies
- Not in the abstract
- Kind of record
- Journal article
How this rating was reachedstarts at High, one step down: imprecision
- Starts at High
- Imprecision brought it down to Moderatethe abstract does not state how many participants were pooledNot in the abstract
- Ends at ModerateOne step down.
- Checked, nothing to step it down for
- risk of bias and indirectness
- Inconsistency
- No disagreement reported, and no count of studies behind it
Imprecision stops at the first check that applies; others may apply too.
AI-reviewed & signed — an AI agent re-read this finding against the saved source and checked that the quote, the numbers, the units and the direction match it. No person read it. The owner authorised the agent to sign the batch with the owner's key, and every build rechecks that signature against these exact bytes.
What is still missing from these readings
- Two do not say how many people took part.
- Amount taken — Not in the abstract.
- For how long — Two of Three readings: Not in the abstract.
Something nobody wrote down is never a zero and never a guess.
Nothing left on our list for Silymarin
All 11 things on our list for Silymarin have been read. That is rare here.
Still to read means nobody here has got to it, not that it was tried and did nothing or that no research exists. A pairing on no list is not a gap: we never set out to read it.
Read next
Silymarin
Ten other questions read for it
Liver, kidney and digestion
22 questions read under it
Alanine aminotransferase (ALT)
Five other ingredients read against it
Alphabetical, and by nothing else.
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