Amy asked
Is it okay to take Liverite Liveraide with my cholesterol medication Lipitor?
At a glance
- There is no known interaction between Liverite LiverAid (i.e. milk thistle) and Lipitor.
Answer
I will try and answer this question as thoroughly as possible but I want to throw out the disclaimer that is often very difficult to give a definitive answer regarding drug-herbal product interactions since they are not well studied.
There simply is not a lot of data out there and the data that is available is typically low-quality evidence.
While I can give you some guidance in terms of the information available regarding a potential interaction between Lipitor (atorvastatin) and LiverAid, I always recommend you reach out to your physician before starting any supplement while taking prescription medication. This way you can be appropriately monitored for side effects.
What Is In Liverite LiverAid?
The first step is to determine the active ingredients of the product in your inquiry. According to the manufacturer website, Liverite Liveraid contains the active ingredient of Milk Thistle (Silymarin). Historically, milk thistle has been used for various disorders of the liver, kidney, and spleen. It has also been studied as a treatment for alcoholic liver disease and a number of different types of viral hepatitis.[1][2]
Milk Thistle is one of the most popular supplements on the market and is an ingredient in hundreds, if not thousands, of products. It is commonly marketed and used for various liver disorders and as a 'liver-protective' supplement. Another term for this is "hepatoprotective". According to available data, it has antioxidant and free radical-scavenging actions and these actions are thought to be an important mechanism for the hepatoprotective effects.
You are not alone in looking to take this supplement. Surveys have shown that almost 30% of patients in the US with chronic hepatic diseases supplement with milk thistle in addition to their regularly prescribed medications.
LiverAid With Lipitor
In terms of an interaction between LiverAid and Lipitor (atorvastatin), there is little data available.
I could only find one study that researched the subject matter and it tested the effects of silymarin when combined with rosuvastatin (generic Crestor), which is in the same class of medications as Lipitor.
The study showed that silymarin did inhibit certain aspects of drug metabolism, there was no change in any drug concentrations of rosuvastatin. The authors concluded that silymarin did not appear to affect rosuvastatin pharmacokinetics (how a drug is absorbed, metabolized, etc... in the body).[3]
Now, it is important to point out that Crestor and Lipitor are metabolized differently, even though they are in the same class of drugs. Crestor is not significantly metabolized by CYP (Cytochrome P450) enzymes, if at all, while Lipitor is (by CYP3A4 to be exact). CYP enzymes are the predominant enzymes responsible for drug metabolism and if anything that alters these enzymes or their activity, drug interactions can occur.
Having said that, most studies report that milk thistle does not significantly affect CYP3A4 and therefore, shouldn't alter Lipitor levels.
In conclusion, I found no data regarding a potential interaction but again, there is certainly a limited amount of information available. So while most signs point to it not being an issue to take Lipitor and milk thistle together, I always recommend you reach out to your physician before starting any supplement in addition to your medication regimen.
