Evaluation of antioxidant capacity and inflammatory cytokine gene expression in horses fed silibinin complexed with phospholipid.

The research article explores how administering silibinin complexed with phospholipid to horses affects their antioxidant capacity and inflammatory cytokine gene expression. The paper reveals that the antioxidant capacity might improve with increasing consumption of silibinin phospholipid, warranting further studies on horses with liver disease.

Research Methodology

• The researchers selected five healthy horses for the study and gave them increasing doses of orally administered silibinin phospholipid over four nonconsecutive weeks. The dosage volumes were 0 mg/kg, 6.5 mg/kg, 13 mg/kg, and 26 mg/kg of body weight, twice daily for seven days each week.
• The dose-related changes in plasma antioxidant capacity, peripheral blood cell glutathione concentration and antioxidant enzyme activities, and blood cytokine gene expression were studied in connection to the silibinin phospholipid administration.

Research Findings

• The study found that plasma antioxidant capacity increased progressively as the silibinin phospholipid dose increased throughout the study period.
• Red blood cell nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate:quinone oxidoreductase I activity decreased noticeably with increasing doses of silibinin phospholipid.
• However, the alterations in glutathione peroxidase activity, reduced glutathione or oxidized glutathione concentrations, or the expression of tumor necrosis factor α, interleukin-1, or interleukin-2 were insignificant.

Conclusion

• The administration of silibinin phospholipid induced minor changes in the antioxidant capacity of the healthy horses.
• This finding implies that further study is needed, particularly in horses with liver disease, to fully understand these alterations and devise an implication for use in treatment or prevention strategies.