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Home / Equine Research Bank / Animals (Basel) / Dose Effect of Milk Thistle (Silybum marianum) Seed Cakes on...
Animals : an open access journal from MDPI2021; 11(6); 1687; doi: 10.3390/ani11061687

Dose Effect of Milk Thistle (Silybum marianum) Seed Cakes on the Digestibility of Nutrients, Flavonolignans and the Individual Components of the Silymarin Complex in Horses.

Abstract: Milk thistle seeds contain a mixture of flavonoids known as silymarin, which consists of silybin, isosilybin, silychristine, and silydianin. Until now, there has been no evidence of monitoring the digestibility of silymarin complex in horses. The aim of the research was to evaluate the digestibility of silymarin complex and the effect of nutrient digestibility in horses. Different daily feed doses (FD) of milk thistle expeller (0 g, 100 g, 200 g, 400 g, 700 g) were administered to five mares kept under the same conditions and at the same feed rations. Digestibility of silymarin complex was monitored by HPLC-UV. Digestible energy (DE), crude protein, crude fat, crude fiber, nitrogen-free extract (NFE), crude ash, calcium (Ca), and phosphorus (P) were determined according ISO/IEC 17025:2017. The biochemical profile of blood plasma (total protein, albumin, alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT), bilirubin, total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, triacyl glyceride (TAG), non-esterified fatty acid (NEFA), creatine kinase (CK), creatinine, urea, glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), total antioxidant status (TAS), glucose, calcium, and inorganic phosphate) was investigated. Moreover, the flavonolignans of the silymarin complex in plasma were detected. Statistically significant differences ( ≤ 0.05) were found between daily doses of milk thistle expellers in digestibilities. Our findings showed the digestibility of flavonolignans increased with the daily dose and then stagnated with the dose of milk thistle seed cakes at 700 g/day.
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Publication Date: 2021-06-05 PubMed ID: 34198877PubMed Central: PMC8227783DOI: 10.3390/ani11061687Google Scholar: Lookup
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Summary

This research summary has been generated with artificial intelligence and may contain errors and omissions. Refer to the original study to confirm details provided. Submit correction.

The study investigates how feeding different doses of milk thistle seed cakes to horses impacts the digestibility of nutrients and silymarin complex components, a mixture of flavonoids in milk thistle seeds known to have health benefits.

Objective and Methodology

  • The main objective of this research was to explore the digestibility of the silymarin complex found in milk thistle seeds in horses and note its effect on nutrient digestibility.
  • To conduct the investigation, varying daily feed doses of milk thistle expeller (0 g, 100 g, 200 g, 400 g, 700 g) were administered to five mares. These mares were all kept under the same conditions and provided the same amount of feed.
  • The researchers monitored the digestibility of the silymarin complex via High Performance Liquid Chromatography with UV detection (HPLC-UV).
  • Various nutrient values were determined according to ISO/IEC 17025:2017, including digestible energy, crude protein, crude fat, crude fiber, nitrogen-free extract, crude ash, calcium, and phosphorus.
  • The researchers also analyzed the biochemical profile of blood plasma, investigating a wide range of markers including total protein, various types of cholesterol, creatine kinase, total antioxidant status, and more.

Results

  • The results showed statistically significant differences in the digestibility of nutrients based on the daily dosage of milk thistle expellers.
  • The research revealed that the digestibility of flavonolignans, which are part of the silymarin complex, increased with the daily dose up to a certain point (700g/day). Beyond this point, the digestibility seemed to stagnate.

Significance

  • This study provides new information on the dose effect of milk thistle seed cakes on the digestibility of nutrients in horses.
  • The results can guide how milk thistle seed cakes are used in horse diets, particularly for those interested in leveraging the health benefits of the silymarin complex.
  • It also brings forward the need for more research to understand why the digestibility of flavonolignans stagnates beyond a particular dose of milk thistle seed.

Cite This Article

APA
Dockalova H, Zeman L, Baholet D, Batik A, Skalickova S, Horky P. (2021). Dose Effect of Milk Thistle (Silybum marianum) Seed Cakes on the Digestibility of Nutrients, Flavonolignans and the Individual Components of the Silymarin Complex in Horses. Animals (Basel), 11(6), 1687. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11061687

Publication

Animals : an open access journal from MDPI
ISSN: 2076-2615
NlmUniqueID: 101635614
Country: Switzerland
Language: English
Volume: 11
Issue: 6
PII: 1687

Researcher Affiliations

Dockalova, Hana
  • Department of Animal Nutrition and Forage Production, Mendel University in Brno, Zemědělská 1, 61300 Brno, Czech Republic.
Zeman, Ladislav
  • Department of Animal Nutrition and Forage Production, Mendel University in Brno, Zemědělská 1, 61300 Brno, Czech Republic.
Baholet, Daria
  • Department of Animal Nutrition and Forage Production, Mendel University in Brno, Zemědělská 1, 61300 Brno, Czech Republic.
Batik, Andrej
  • Department of Animal Nutrition and Forage Production, Mendel University in Brno, Zemědělská 1, 61300 Brno, Czech Republic.
Skalickova, Sylvie
  • Department of Animal Nutrition and Forage Production, Mendel University in Brno, Zemědělská 1, 61300 Brno, Czech Republic.
Horky, Pavel
  • Department of Animal Nutrition and Forage Production, Mendel University in Brno, Zemědělská 1, 61300 Brno, Czech Republic.

Grant Funding

  • TJ04000100 / Technology Agency of the Czech Republic

Conflict of Interest Statement

The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.

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Citations

This article has been cited 2 times.
  1. Zhang T, Ren Y, Yang C, Gebeyew K, Gao M, He Z, Tan Z. An integrated transcriptome and microbial community analysis reveals potential mechanisms for increased immune responses when replacing silybum marianum meal with soybean meal in growing lambs. Front Microbiol 2023;14:1093129.
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