Monascin and Ankaflavin Act as Novel Hypolipidemic and High-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol-Raising Agents in Red Mold Dioscorea

J. Agric. Food Chem. 2010, 58, 9013–9019

Chun-Lin Lee, Yi-Hsin Kung, Cheng-Lun Wu, Ya-Wen Hsu, and Tzu-Ming Pan

Monascus-fermented red mold dioscorea (RMD) has been proven to possess greater hypolipidemic effect than red mold rice (RMR) even though they include equal levels of cholesterol-lowering agent monacolin K. However, higher concentrations of yellow pigments (monascin and ankaflavin) were found in RMD than in RMR. In this study, purified monascin and ankaflavin were administered to hyperlipidemic hamsters for 8 weeks, respectively, to test whether these two compounds were novel hypolipidemic ingredients. In the statistical results, monascin and ankaflavin showed significant effect on lowering cholesterol, triglyceride, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels in serum, as well as aorta lipid plaque ( p < 0.05). Importantly, monascin and ankaflavin, unlike monacolin K, were able to perform up-regulation rather than down-regulation on high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels in serum. This finding not only explained why RMD showed greater hypolipidemic and HDL-C-raising effect than RMR but also proved that monascin and ankaflavin would act as novel and potent hypolipidemic ingredients.

[血脂] Ankaflavin 與 Monascin 有效調節血脂並可提升 HDL-C

紅麴發酵的紅麴山藥 (RMD) 已被證實具有比紅麴米 (RMR) 較好的降血脂效果，即使是含有相同含量的降膽固醇的藥物 monacolin K。然而，比在RMR中，RMD 被發現有較高濃度的黃色素 (monascin 與 ankaflavin)。 本研究中，純 monascin 與 ankaflavin 分別給予於高血脂的倉鼠8週，去測試這兩個化合物是否是新的降血脂物質。 在統計結果，monascin 與 ankaflavin 顯示有明顯降低血清中的膽固醇、三酸甘油酯與低密度脂蛋白膽固醇，以及動脈脂質斑塊 (p< 0.05)的效果。重要的是，monascin 與 ankaflavin 與 monacolin K 不同，是分別可以上調而不是降低血清中高密度脂蛋白膽固醇 (HDL-C) 含量。這次的發現不但證實了為什麼RMD 具有比 RMR 較好的降血脂與提高 HDL-C 的效果，也證明了 monascin 與 ankaflavin 將可作為新的、有潛力的降血脂成分。