Effect of silver leaf on circulating lipids and cardiac and hepatic enzymes.

About 50 mg of silver leaf (metallic silver) was given daily by mouth to 30 healthy volunteers for 20 days. A statistically significant hypophospholipidemic, hypotriglyceridemic, hypocholesterolemic and hypoglycemic effect was observed. This was accompanied by a less marked fall in total lipids and significant rise in HDL-cholesterol. In addition, a decrease in plasma enzymes - alkaline phosphatase (ALP), glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase (GOT), glutamate pyruvate transaminase (GPT), creatine phosphokinase (CPK), gamma glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) was noted. This was statistically significant for all enzymes except CPK. The safety of ingested silver foil is indicated by absence of pathology in urine and unaltered levels of protein and albumin in the plasma. These observations suggest that silver could be beneficial in conditions like diabetes mellitus, obesity and atherosclerosis.