the Committee on the Ethics of Animal Experiments of Xinjiang Medical University (animal certification Number: Shengchanxuke(xin)2011-0003). All surgery was performed under sodium pentobarbital aesthesia, and all efforts were made to minimize suffering.

Everted rat intestinal sac transport studies {#sec008}
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One millilitre of silymarin proliposomes was added to 10 mL of distilled water to form the silymarin liposomes that were used for the silymarin liposome group. The same amount of silymarin that was used to prepare the silymarin proliposomes was dissolved in propylene glycol to form a solution, and then 1 mL of the solution was added to 10 mL of distilled water to produce the silymarin control solution. The everted gut sac transport experiments were performed in triplicate at 37°C in a water bath. On the day of the experiment,Wistar rats were anesthetised and euthanized using sodium pentobarbital injection, a midline abdominal incision was made, and the entire length of the intestine was removed; then, the first 15-cm segment distal to the pylorus was taken. The excised intestine was flushed with ice-cold saline to remove any intestinal content and the intestinal segment was everted on a thin glass rod. The everted intestine was ligated on one end and infused with the serosal fluid, and then the other end was also ligated. The full length of the everted intestine was 10 cm. Next, the everted intestine was placed into 25 mL of silymarin solution or silymarin liposomes, which served as the mucosal fluid (outer compartment). Six sacs were made. One everted intestine was removed, and 0.5 mL samples