Protective effect of silymarin against chemical-induced cardiotoxicity

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Cardiac disorders remain one of the most important causes of death in the world. Oxidative stress has been suggested as one of the molecular mechanisms involved in drug-induced cardiac toxicity. Recently, several natural products have been utilized in different studies with the aim to protect the progression of oxidative stress-induced cardiac disorders. There is a large body of evidence that administration of antioxidants may be useful in ameliorating cardiac toxicity. Silymarin, a polyphenolic flavonoid has been shown to have utility in several cardiovascular disorders. In this review, various studies in scientific databases regarding the preventive effects of silymarin against cardiotoxicity induced by chemicals were introduced. Although there are many studies representing the valuable effects of silymarin in different diseases, the number of researches relating to the possible cardiac protective effects of silymarin against drugs induced toxicity is rather limited. Results of these studies show that silymarin has a broad spectrum of cardiac protective activity against toxicity induced by some chemicals including metals, environmental pollutants, oxidative agents and anticancer drugs. Further studies are needed to establish the utility of silymarin in protection against cardiac toxicity.