Tuesday Dec 3, 2013 (foodconsumer.org) -- Milk thistle dietary supplements are known to be protective against hepatitis C virus (HCV).  But a new study in the journal Antioxidants found evidence indicating that some milk thistle dietary supplements did not have any anti-HCV activities while others showed a strong potency against hepatitis C virus.

The study showed that some milk thistle dietary supplements contains more than 75% active ingredient silymarin while some contained little of the ingredient.  And the silymarin content in the dietary supplements was associated with the protective potency against hepatitis C virus.  Milk thistle dietary supplements but watch out the fake ones which do not contain any active ingredient!!!

This is like green tea beverages.  A study found that some so called green tea beverages on the market do not contain any active ingredient EGCG.

Milk thistle seed extract also known as silymarin which is sold under many brand names has gained popularity in recent years as a hepatoprotective, antioxidant, antiradical, and free radical scavenging dietary supplement.  It has been commonly used to prevent the liver from being damaged by toxins and to treat liver diseases like hepatitis C and cirrhosis.  Recently milk thistle has been found to have high anti-tumor activity and prevent skin cancer.

Particularly silymarin, which is a mix of seven major ingredients: isosilybin A and isosilybin B , silychristin, silydianin, silybin A, silybin B, taxifolin, has been found able to effectively treat hepatitis C virus, according to the background information in the study report.

The current study was intended to examine the level of silymarin, antioxidant activities, and antiviral activity against hepatitis C virus of 45 products.

The study found "Samples were found to vary widely in their silymarin content, with some samples having none or very low concentrations while silymarin represented higher than 80% of other samples. Both antioxidant and anti-HCV activity correlated with the overall level of silymarin."

The antiviral effect of silymarin has also been demonstrated in another study published in 2013 in Journal of Viral Hepatitis.  The study led by David E. Kaplan, MD MSc, Philadelphia VA Medical Center in Philadelphia, PA shows that high-dose oral silymarin exerts modest nonspecific immunomodulatory effects in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus.  The doses used in the trial were 400mg and 700 mg of silymarin three times a day.

Another supplement hepatitis C patients who are receiving a standard treatment may consider also taking vitamin B12 as a study published in the journal Gut found adding vitamin B12 significantly boost the body’s ability to keep the hepatitis C virus at bay.

Green tea is another herb hepatitis C patients can use to fight the infection.  A study oublished most recently in PLoS One tested the epicatechin isomers (+)-epicatechin and (−)-epicatechin found in green tea and found both actively inhibited HCV replication at nontoxic concentrations in a dose-dependent manner.  In addition, these two epicatechins have significant anti-inflammatory effect or they are able to inhibit the gene expression of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-1β.  Researchers suggest that “Collectively, (+)-epicatechin and (−)-epicatechin may serve as therapeutic supplements for treating HCV-related diseases.”

Also in PLoS ONE, another study indicated that “An aqueous extract of the seaweed Gracilaria tenuistipitata (AEGT) concentration-dependently inhibited HCV replication at nontoxic concentrations.”

Hepatitis C is hard to treat and the disease can lead to the development of liver cancer without first developing fibrosis and cirrhosis.  Chronis hepatitis C can induce symptoms including depression, fatigue and impared cognitive function.  Some dietary supplemts may help improve the quality of life in hepatitis C patients even though they can’t cure the disease.  These types od dietary supplements include soy protein and casein protein supplements.

For a study in the Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, 140 hepatitis C patients were randomly assigned to receive soy protein and casein protein for 12 weeks.  Before and after supplementation, a range of anthropometric, biochemical and clinical parameters were measured.

 The study found supplementation with soy protein and casein protein significantly improved the score on health-related quality of life in patients with hepatitis C virus. And soy protein and casein protein delivered the same effect.

Another important dietary supplement to use to fight hepatitis is Chlorella.  A study also published in 2013 in World Journal of Gastroenterology found that supplementation of chlorella for 12 weeks reduced the aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels in up to 85% patients with hepatitis C virus genotype 1.  This supplementation also decreased the viral load.

Chlorella is a single-cell green algae belonging to the phylum Chlorophyta.  Both chlorella powder and chlorella tablets are available on the Internet and local health stores. 

Another similar supplement is spirulina.  A review authored by RANJANI RAMAKRISHNAN from Sri Venkateswara Universit in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, India and published in the Dec 2013 issue of  International Journal of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences (IJMPS) suggests that spirulina can be used as therapeutic agent and also as antiviral agent to treat hepatitis C virus infection.

A review article authored by V. Carreño and published in Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics suggests that ursodeoxycholic acid and glycyrrhizin have anti-inflammatory and/or anti-fibrotic effects in patients with hepatitis C virus.   

Ursodeoxycholic acid (Ursodiol) is a bile acid that has already known for its cholesterol lowering effect.  Glycyrrhizin (or glycyrrhizic acid or glycyrrhizinic acid) is a sweet-tasting compound found in liquorice root.   Glycyrrhizin prevents liver cell injury caused by chemicals and is used in the treatment of chronic hepatitis like hepatitis C and cirrhosis in Japan.   It can also inhibit the replication of several DNA and RNA viruses.

In summary, milk thistle seed extract or silymarin, green tea, vitamin B 12, seaweed Gracilaria tenuistipitata, chlorella, spirulina, ursodeoxycholic acid and glycyrrhizin may be used to treat hepatitis C virus.  Food proteins such as soy protein and casein protein may help improve the quality of life in patients with hepatitis C virus.

It should be noted that some research suggests that casein protein is harmful to the patients with active hepatitis.  Dr. T Colin Campbell, nutrition professor at Cornell University conducted a study on the effect of casein protein on the damage induced by hepatitis B virus.  His study shows that rodents on a diet 20% casein protein and exposed to hepatitis B virus developed liver tumors more easily and died earlier than those on a diet with 20% soy protein. (David Liu, PHD)