Department of Life Science, National Taitung University, Taitung, Taiwan, Republic of China.
J Agric Food Chem. 2013 Jan 9;61(1):143-50. doi: 10.1021/jf304346r. Epub 2012 Dec 24.
Monacolin K has long been considered a major effective component in the hypolipidemic functions of Monascus . Monacolin K also serves as a well-known hypolipidemic medication, but its side effect myopathy is a concern. Monascin and ankaflavin, the yellow pigments produced by Monascus species, have been proven to possess hypolipidemic functions; however, no studies have compared the hypolipidemic effects of monascin, ankaflavin, and monacolin K under the same dosages. In this study, the equal dosages of monascin, ankaflavin, and monacolin K were oral administrated to hamsters fed a high cholesterol diet for 6 weeks. Comparison of the displayed hypolipidemic and anti-atherosclerosis effects was performed, in addition to an investigation into the inducement of side effect. The results indicated that monascin and ankaflavin were similar to monacolin K in significantly reducing total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels in serum and lipid plaque (p < 0.05) in the heart aorta. In addition, ankaflavin achieved the effects of serum TC and TG reduction, with no significant difference as compared to those effects of monacolin K (p > 0.05). However, as compared to monacolin K, ankaflavin possessed more significant effects on the prevention of fatty liver and lipid plaque accumulation in heart aorta. More importantly, monascin significantly enhanced high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) concentrations, while monacolin K displayed the opposite effect. Regarding the side effect, monacolin K also raised elevated creatinine phosphokinase (CPK) activity, which was highly correlated with rhabdomyolysis development, while monascin and ankaflavin did not induce such a side effect. In conclusion, MS and AK had the potential to be developed as hypolipidemic agents without rhabdomyolysis development.
Monacolin K 一直被认为是红曲降血脂功能的主要有效成分之一。Monacolin K 也是一种著名的降血脂药物，但它的副作用肌病令人担忧。红曲产生的黄色素 monascin 和ankaflavin 已被证明具有降血脂功能；然而，没有研究比较过在相同剂量下 monascin、ankaflavin 和 monacolin K 的降血脂效果。在这项研究中，给喂食高胆固醇饮食的仓鼠口服相同剂量的 monascin、ankaflavin 和 monacolin K，持续 6 周。比较了它们的降血脂和抗动脉粥样硬化效果，同时还研究了它们引起副作用的情况。结果表明，monascin 和 ankaflavin 与 monacolin K 相似，可显著降低血清和心脏主动脉脂质斑块中的总胆固醇（TC）、甘油三酯（TG）和低密度脂蛋白胆固醇（LDL-C）水平（p < 0.05）。此外，ankaflavin 实现了降低血清 TC 和 TG 的效果，与 monacolin K 的效果相比没有显著差异（p > 0.05）。然而，与 monacolin K 相比，ankaflavin 对预防脂肪肝和心脏主动脉脂质斑块积累的效果更为显著。更重要的是，monascin 显著提高了高密度脂蛋白胆固醇（HDL-C）浓度，而 monacolin K 则显示出相反的效果。关于副作用，monacolin K 还会引起肌酸磷酸激酶（CPK）活性升高，这与横纹肌溶解症的发展高度相关，而 monascin 和 ankaflavin 则没有引起这种副作用。总之，MS 和 AK 有可能作为不会引起横纹肌溶解症的降血脂药物被开发出来。
