Abstract

Objective: To determine the therapeutic efficacy of silymarin on liver aminotransferases in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).
Methodology: This case control study was carried out at Suleman Roshan Medical College from August 2019 to March 2020. A sample of 200 diagnosed cases of NAFLD was divided into 2 groups; cases received 2 tablets silymarin (200 mg) per day for 12 weeks and controls received placebo. Baseline and after 12 weeks blood samples were taken for the liver aminotransferase measurements. Data were analyzed on SPSS version 21.0.
Results: Frequency of fatty liver disease at baseline in cases and controls was noted as: grade 1- 32% vs. 31%, grade 2 - 60% vs. 61% and grade 3- 8% vs. 7% (p=0.91. ALT in cases decreased from 89.7±7.31 to 67.3±3.9 IU/mL and AST decreased from 72.3±5.9 to 53.9±5.7 IU/mL while ALT in controls decreased from 88.9±8.1 to 79.3±7.1 and AST from 71.3±5.3 to 70.9±6.13 (p=0.0001).
Conclusion: Silymarin therapy effectively improved NAFLD with improvement of liver aminotransferases.

Key words: Silylmarin, NAFLD, sonography, ALT, AST.