Articles > Milk Thistle  & Aids Drug Study

Kare & Hope Product ( Milk Thistle ) Was selected among other major companies Milk Thistle Brand for study in conjunction with AIDS Drug.

This study was supported by the Ontario HIV Treatment Network

Summary for the RTC ( For less technical reading read the above article)


It is well known that the prolonged use of Natural Health products may alter Protease Inhibitor concentration( anti HIV drugs) potentially producing suboptimal drug concentration leading to drug resistance. In some, and in others increasing exposure resulting in drug toxicity. Milk Thistle is a herbal remedy commonly used by people with HIV for the management of liver toxicity related to anti-HIV medication. Previous clinical trials done to determine Milk Thistle/ Indinavir interactions concluded that there was no significant interaction although they showed large decreases of Indinavir in plasma within some individuals, but these studies were limited by not employing a control group. In a new Randomized controlled study approved by The Ontario HIV treatment network which included US and UK cooperation, Milk Thistle does not appear to significantly alter plasma concentration of Indinavir.

Before the study, different Milk Thistle products in Toronto health food stores were analysed at the University of Ottawa, consistency, cost and patient preferences were determined. The product chosen for the trial was from Kare and Hope Inc. and it contained an average 456mg of Milk Thistle.

The study was a 3 period trail with 16 healthy young male patients participating. They were randomized to a Milk Thistle group and a control group. All participants received Indinavir in three phases with the Milk Thistle given from day 2 to day 30 of the trial. The result was that Indinavir levels were not reduced significantly in the presence of Milk Thistle.

As Increased efforts are needed to design trials that can adequately display or reject plant-extract drug interactions, Milk Thistle continues to be a useful supplement for HIV patients treated with Indinavir.

Experts conducted the study:

- Edward Mills DPH, MSc, University of Oxford and McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario.
- Kumanan Wilson MD, MSc, FRCP (C), Dept. of Medicine, University of Toronto
- Mike Clarke D. Phil, University of Oxford and UK Cochrane Centre, Oxford UK
- Brian Foster PhD , Therapeutic Products Directorate, Health Canada
- Scott Walker MSc5 Sunnybrook & Women’s College Hospital
- Beth Rachlis BSc & Nick DeGroot BSc
- Victor M. Montori MD, MSc , Dept. of Medicine, Mayo Clinic
- Wayne Gold MD, FRCP (C) , Dept. of Medicine, University of Toronto
- Elizabeth Phillips MD, FRCP (C) Dept. of Medicine, University of Toronto and Sunnybrook & Women’s College Hospital
- Stephen Myers Bmed, PhD , Dept. of Medicine, University of Queensland
- Keith Gallicano PhD , Watson Laboratories, USA

Milk Thistle  & Aids Study (Complete Research)

To obtain a copy of the complete research that was conducted by aforementioned organizations please contact us.