Effect of Silybum marianum Plant Extract (Silymarin) on Wound Healing

Background: Since wound and its treatment are an important issue in daily life, we are trying to provide methods that have less side effects in addition to quick and effective treatment. From the past until now, medicinal plants have been used to heal wounds and, they had effects on wound healing due to their properties. This has caused researchers to have a special look at medicinal plants and their effect on tissue and wound healing. The objective of this research is to investigate the effect of silymarin (extract of Silybum marianum) on wound healing.Methods: By reviewing of several published articles in reliable global databases such as Web of Science PubMed, Scopus and etc, between ۲۰۱۸ and ۲۰۲۲, we obtained results about the beneficial effects of silymarin on wound healing in rats.Results: Silymarin has strong antioxidant properties and prevents tissue damage caused by oxidative substances such as hydrogen peroxide. Because oxidative stress is one of the major mechanisms for delaying in the wound healing process, substances with proven antioxidant activity, such as silymarin, can be useful for treating many dermatologic conditions as well as wound healing. Topical administration of this extract on wounds made on rats stimulates epithelialization in full-thickness wounds and also reduces inflammation in skin wounds. In addition, silymarin increased the percentage of contraction and the amount of collagen in the wound site of rats.Conclusion: By observing the beneficial effect of silymarin on wound healing in rats, the use of this extract for human wounds can be effective and this issue needs serious attention. Also, future studies can be performed to determine the molecular mechanisms of silymarin in wound healing.