The impact of Monascus on liver indices

GOT and GPT are both important enzymes in the liver. GOT is mainly located inside the nucleus, with a small amount in the cytoplasm. When liver cells die, large amounts of GOT are released into the serum. Hence, increases in the concentration of GOT can be used to evaluate indirectly the extent of liver cell death. In contrast to GOT, GPT mainly exists in the cytoplasm of liver cells. When liver cells are attacked by antigens or toxins, the liver, they start to swell, which on one hand leads to cell denaturation and on the other hand increases the cells' permeability. As a result, the GPT diffuses out of the cells, leading to an increase in GPT concentration in the serum. Therefore, by determining whether the concentrations of GOT and GPT in the serum have increased abnormally, the degree of liver cell death or denaturation could be assessed.

The figure below shows a table reprinted from an international journal and was generated by the Department of Biochemical Science and Technology Laboratory, National Taiwan University. Monascus purpureus NTU 568 powder was used to feed experiment animals, whose liver indices were then monitored. The results showed that feeding the animals with high-cholesterol food for four weeks increased liver indices, whereas feeding them with NTU 568 fermented product for eight weeks significantly reduced their liver indices.

The impact of Monascus on indices of kidney damage

Urea nitrogen is a waste product from protein metabolism. When kidney functions are pathologically damaged, the efficiency of excreting metabolic waste is reduced, and urea nitrogen levels increase.γ-GT is a type of mitochondrial enzyme, the highest concentration of which is found in the kidney, followed by the pancreas, lung, and liver. This enzyme is related to the amount of alcohol and drug intake. Its most important clinical value is in the diagnosis of alcohol- and drug-induced hepatitis. Drinking alcohol increases the activity of this enzyme in liver cell mitochondria and causes it to be expressed in large amounts. When alcohol or drug leads to liver dysfunction, although GOT and GPT may not increase significantly, γ-GT will definitely show obvious abnormality. Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) is another enzyme that is released into the blood when organs are damaged and is often used as an index of liver/kidney damage. The figure below was published by the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 1999. In this double-blind experiment, the effect of monascus was evaluated in humans using 41 controls and 42 experimental subjects. The results showed that after administration of 2.4 g monascus daily for 12 weeks, the levels of cholesterol, triglycerides, and LDL-C in the blood were clearly improved. At the same time, the liver damage indices ALT (i.e., GPT), AST (i.e., GOT), and γ-GT, as well as the kidney damage indices urea nitrogen and lactate dehydrogenase, showed no significant increase.

In 2008, the Department of Biochemical Science and Technology Laboratory, National Taiwan University conducted a feeding experiment in animals using Monascus purpureus NTU 568 monascus fermentation powder, with 0.5× dosage (equivalent to 1 g daily in human), 1× dosage (equivalent to 2 g daily in human) and 5× dosage (equivalent to 10 g daily in human). After eight weeks of feeding, the animals were sacrificed and their blood was collected for analysis of the liver indices GOT and GPT and the kidney indices urea nitrogen and creatinine. Statistical analysis showed that there was no significant difference when compared with the group not fed with monascus.