Flavonolignans from silymarin do not intercalate into DNA: Rebuttal of data published in the paper J. Mol. Recognit. e2812 (2019)

0543851 - MBÚ 2022 RIV GB eng J - Journal Article
Biedermann, David - Hurtová, Martina - Biedermannová, Lada - Valentová, Kateřina - Křen, Vladimír
Flavonolignans from silymarin do not intercalate into DNA: Rebuttal of data published in the paper J. Mol. Recognit. e2812 (2019).
Journal of Molecular Recognition. Roč. 34, č. 7 (2021), č. článku 2888. ISSN 0952-3499. E-ISSN 1099-1352
R&D Projects: GA MŠMT(CZ) LTC18071
Institutional support: RVO:61388971 ; RVO:86652036
Keywords : Flavonolignans * silymarin
OECD category: Medicinal chemistry; Biophysics (BTO-N)
Impact factor: 2.891, year: 2021
Method of publishing: Limited access
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/jmr.2888

In this letter, we present our concerns about the publication Pawar SK, Jaldappagari S. Intercalation of a flavonoid, silibinin into DNA base pairs: Experimental and theoretical approach. J. Mol. Recog. 2019, e2812. Doi: 10.1002/jmr.2812, which deals with the interaction of the natural product silybin with DNA. In our opinion, the conclusions presented by Pawar et al. are not supported by the data and here we are detailing our concerns. The paper in question1 deals with the interaction of an important and widely used nutraceutical compound silybin (sometimes also called silibinin) with DNA, and the topic is investigated using both experimental and in silico approaches. We found several serious errors in this paper, which we analyze hereunder. The conclusions disprove the data from various clinical trials showing safe use of silymarin even at high doses of several grams/day administered for weeks.2 Specifically, the data seem to directly contradict a previous work,3 which— using the same or very similar methods—has not found any interaction between silybin and DNA. The misleading conclusions of this paper1 — if valid—would have serious safety, legal, and economic consequences due to widespread production, marketing, and use of silybin as nutraceutical and drug components.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0320966