الفهرس 
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Abstract
Obesity is a complex disease that results in many serious diseases such as (diabetes, blood pressure, atherosclerosis, stroke, fatty liver...etc.), in addition to diseases of the nervous system and its impact on the nervous and psychological state and the body’s biological processes. There are side effects of medications believed to be anti-obesity, which pose a major risk to their use. As such, there is a growing interest in searching for natural products, especially plant nutrients with effective, safe, and anti-obesity therapeutic activities, including milk thistle.
Milk thistle (Silybum marianum L.) is an annual/biennial plant of the Asteraceae family, native of Mediterranean area and now growing and cultivated worldwide including Egypt. Its main component is silymarin, an antioxidant and anti-fibrosis, and silybin represents the main flavonoids in it, as it has therapeutic properties for high blood fats, diabetes, and obesity.
Both various studies on animals and humans indicate that silymarin could be a good candidate in the treatment of both metabolic syndrome and various liver diseases (stimulate hepatic regeneration, diuretic, hepatoprotective, choleretic), in addition to immunostimulating, and anti-inflammatory in general.
The present study aims to investigate the bioactive compounds content and biological activities of milk thistle (Silybum marianum) extract. Also, the potential effects of such extract on obesity and other related complications in a diet-induced obesity model in rats will be in the scope of this investigation.
Experimental design:
The current study was performed on (36) Sprague-Dawley strain adult male healthy albino rats weighting (146.81±5.95) g were obtained from Research Institute of Ophthalmology, Animal House Department, Giza, Egypt, All rats were fed on control diet for 7 days before the beginning of experiments for adaptation. After the adaptation period, the rats were divided into 6 groups and each group contains 6 rats as follows:
- group (1): Negative control group (-) in which normal rats were fed on basal diet.
- group (2): Positive control group (+) in this group rats were fed on Diet Induced Obesity (DIO) for 8 weeks to induced obesity
- group (3): fed on DIO and intervention with (200 mg/kg bw/day SME) by oral gavages
- group (4): Induced obesity group and fed on DIO and intervention with (200 mg/kg bw/day SME) by oral gavages
- group (5): Induced obesity group and fed on DIO and intervention with (200 mg/kg bw/day SME) by oral gavages
- group (6): Induced obesity group and fed on DIO and intervention with (200 mg/kg bw/day SME) by oral gavages
- At the end of experimental (8 weeks) the following experiments were performed:-
1- Proximate chemical composition, bioactive components and antioxidant capacity of Silybum marianum extract (SME).
2- Biological evaluation of rats, the body weight gain (BWG).
3- Biochemical evaluation of blood serum, the blood samples were collected after 12 hours fasting and serum was separated for determination of lipid profile serum total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), high density lipoprotein (HDL), low density lipoprotein (LDL), very low density lipoprotein (VLDL), Liver function aspartate amino transaferase (AST), alanine amino transaferase (ALT), and alkaline phosphates (ALP).
4- At the same time, the organs: Adipose tissue and brain were removed, washed in saline solution, wiped by filter paper, weighted, and stored in formalin solution 10% for histopathololgical examinations.
Statistical analysis:
Results were expressed as means ± SD with Microsoft Excel Software (version 15.0, 2013). The data were analyzed statistically using Student t-test and MINITAB 12 computer program statistical software (Minitab Inc., State College, PA). A value of P ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
The Results:-
1-Chemical Studies:
- Proximate chemical composition of Silybum marianum seeds.
Silybum marianum seeds contained a high percentage of carbohydrates (67.21%) while crude fat/oil (26.72%), crude protein (22.17%), crude fiber (7.17%) and ash contents (2.83%).
- Bioactive components of Silybum marianum extract (SME).
SME was the largest compound (269.65 ± 4.27 mg. g-1) followed by total phenolics (127.65 ± 6.59 mg gallic acid equivalent. g-1) , flavonoids (65.1 ± 2.71 mg quercetin equivalent. g-1), tannins (39.49 ± 2.54 mg catechine equivalent. g-1), α-tocopherol (27.43 ± 1.26 mg. g-1), chlorophyll (11.54 ± 1.88 mg. g-1) and anthocyanin’s (4.59 ± 0.82 mg Cyanidin 3-glucoside, CCy3G equivalent.g-1).
- Antioxidant capacity of Silybum marianum seeds ethanolic extract (SME) 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity.
SME possessed the highest activity compared to the BHT. At a concentration of 100 μg/mL, the radicals scavenging activity of were SME (86.87%) and BHT (91.24%). For the IC50, were recorded SME (11.61± 0.70 μg/mL) and BHT (8.21± 0.18 μg/mL). The free radical scavenging activity of SME and BHT was in the following order: standard (BHT) > SME.