一份2007年的考科藍的系統綜述指出,基於18個臨床研究和1088名酒精性及/或病毒性肝炎(乙型、丙形)病人的數據,利用水飞蓟來治療這些病人的好處值得商榷,而且缺乏高質量的證據來支持這種療法。綜述認為需要進行更多的高質量隨機對照臨床研究才可得出結論[13]。據英国癌症研究中心(英语:Cancer Research UK),互聯網上出現不少聲稱水飞蓟能減緩某些癌症的宣傳信息,但目前仍未有足夠證據支持這些講法[14](注意:由於生物利用度和有效成分濃度等因素,水飞蓟素和水飞蓟本身的效用或有不同)。
^Darwin, Charles Robert. The Voyage of the Beagle. Vol. XXIX. The Harvard Classics. New York: P.F. Collier & Son, 1909–14; Bartleby.com, 2001. www.bartleby.com/29/ (页面存档备份,存于互联网档案馆) [accessed 30 Sep 2016] Ch VI.
^Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club (Torrey Botanical Club, 1887), p. 163
^The Rise of Capitalism on the Pampas: The Estancias of Buenos Aires, 1785-1870, By Samuel Amaral (Cambridge University Press,2002) p. 129
"Charles Darwin, who visited the pampas while traveling around the world, refers to Cynara cardunculus as cardoon, differentiating it from the great thistle, which scientific designation does not mention, described by F. B. Head. The former was as high as a horse; the second, higher than the head of a horserider. In Far Away and Long Ago, William Henry Hudson mentions two types: the cardoon thistle, or wild artichoke, of a bluish or grey-greenish color, and the giant thistle, cardo asnal for the natives and Carduus marianum for botanists, with white and green leaves."
^Greenlee, H.; Abascal, K.; Yarnell, E.; Ladas, E. Clinical Applications of Silybum marianum in Oncology. Integrative Cancer Therapies. 2007, 6 (2): 158–65. PMID 17548794. doi:10.1177/1534735407301727.
^ 8.08.18.2Kroll, D. J.; Shaw, H. S.; Oberlies, N. H. Milk Thistle Nomenclature: Why It Matters in Cancer Research and Pharmacokinetic Studies. Integrative Cancer Therapies. 2007, 6 (2): 110–9. PMID 17548790. doi:10.1177/1534735407301825.
^Hogan, Fawn S.; Krishnegowda, Naveen K.; Mikhailova, Margarita; Kahlenberg, Morton S. Flavonoid, Silibinin, Inhibits Proliferation and Promotes Cell-Cycle Arrest of Human Colon Cancer. Journal of Surgical Research. 2007, 143 (1): 58–65. PMID 17950073. doi:10.1016/j.jss.2007.03.080.
^Rambaldi A, Jacobs BP, Gluud C. Milk thistle for alcoholic and/or hepatitis B or C virus liver diseases. The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2007, (4): CD003620. PMID 17943794. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD003620.pub3.
^JW, Kendrick; J, Tucker; SA, Peoples. Nitrate poisoning in cattle due to ingestion of variegated thistle, Silybum marianum.. Journal of American Veterinary Medicine Association. 1955, 126 (934): 53–56. PMID 13221510.