Center for Human Nutrition, 900 Veteran Ave Room 1-2-217, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
Cancer Prev Res (Phila). 2011 Apr;4(4):608-15. doi: 10.1158/1940-6207.CAPR-10-0219. Epub 2011 Jan 28.
Prostate cancer is a slowly developing but very common cancer in males that may be amenable to preventive strategies that are not toxic. Chinese red yeast rice (RYR), a food herb made by fermenting Monascus purpureus Went yeast on white rice, contains a mixture of eight different monacolins that inhibit cholesterogenesis in addition to red pigments with antioxidant properties. Monacolin K is identical to lovastatin (LV), but LV unlike RYR can be used in individuals intolerant to statins due to muscle pain. Both LV and RYR inhibit de novo cholesterogenesis, which is critical to the growth of tumor cells. Long-term use of statin drugs has been associated with a reduced risk of prostate cancer. We have previously shown that RYR inhibited androgen-dependent and androgen receptor-overexpressing androgen-independent prostate cancer cell proliferation in vitro. This study was designed to determine whether RYR and LV inhibit prostate tumor growth in SCID mice. RYR significantly reduced tumor volumes of androgen-dependent and androgen-independent prostate xenograft tumors compared with animals receiving vehicle alone (P < 0.05). Inhibition by RYR was greater than that observed with LV at the dose found in RYR, showing that other compounds in RYR contributed to the antiproliferative effect. There was a significant correlation of tumor volume to serum cholesterol (P < 0.001). RYR decreased gene expression of androgen synthesizing enzymes (HSD3B2, AKR1C3, and SRD5A1) in both type of tumors (P < 0.05). Clinical studies of RYR for prostate cancer prevention in the increasing population of men undergoing active surveillance should be considered.
前列腺癌是一种在男性中缓慢发展但非常常见的癌症，可能适合采用无毒的预防策略。中国红曲米（RYR）是一种通过在白米上发酵红曲霉酵母制成的食用草药，它含有八种不同的洛伐他汀（monacolins）混合物，除了具有抗氧化特性的红色素外，还可以抑制胆固醇的生成。Monacolin K 与洛伐他汀（LV）相同，但与 RYR 不同，LV 可以用于因肌肉疼痛而不能耐受他汀类药物的个体。LV 和 RYR 都能抑制从头合成胆固醇，这对肿瘤细胞的生长至关重要。长期使用他汀类药物与降低前列腺癌的风险有关。我们之前已经表明，RYR 抑制了体外依赖雄激素和雄激素受体过表达的雄激素非依赖性前列腺癌细胞的增殖。本研究旨在确定 RYR 和 LV 是否能抑制 SCID 小鼠的前列腺肿瘤生长。与单独给予载体的动物相比，RYR 显著降低了依赖雄激素和非依赖雄激素的前列腺异种移植肿瘤的肿瘤体积（P < 0.05）。在 RYR 中发现的剂量下，RYR 的抑制作用大于 LV 的抑制作用，表明 RYR 中的其他化合物对增殖抑制作用有贡献。肿瘤体积与血清胆固醇呈显著相关（P < 0.001）。RYR 降低了两种肿瘤中雄激素合成酶（HSD3B2、AKR1C3 和 SRD5A1）的基因表达（P < 0.05）。应考虑对正在接受主动监测的男性中日益增加的人群进行 RYR 预防前列腺癌的临床研究。
