Red Yeast Rice Prevents Atherosclerosis through Regulating Inflammatory Signaling Pathways

• Published in: Chinese journal of integrative medicine Vol. 23; no. 9; pp. 689 - 695
• Main Authors: Wu, Min, Zhang, Wen-gao, Liu, Long-tao
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.09.2017
• Subjects: Animals; Aorta - pathology; Aorta - ultrastructure; Atherosclerosis - blood; Atherosclerosis - complications; Atherosclerosis - drug therapy; Atherosclerosis - prevention & control; Biological Products - pharmacology; Biological Products - therapeutic use; Inflammation - blood; Inflammation - complications; Inflammation - drug therapy; Inflammation Mediators - metabolism; Lipids - blood; Male; Matrix Metalloproteinase 9 - metabolism; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Mice, Inbred C57BL; NF-kappa B - metabolism; Original Article; Signal Transduction - drug effects; 低密度脂蛋白胆固醇; 信号通路; 动脉粥样硬化; 基质金属蛋白酶-9; 炎症因子; 红曲米; 载脂蛋白E; 酶联免疫吸附法; atherosclerosis; stabilizing unstable plaque; red yeast rice; inflflammatory signaling pathway
• ISSN: 1672-0415; 1993-0402
• DOI: 10.1007/s11655-017-2416-x

Objective： To observe the effects of red yeast rice（RYR） on blood lipid levels, aortic atherosclerosis（AS）, and plaque stability in apolipoprotein E gene knockout（Apo E-/-） mice. Methods： Twentyfour Apo E-/-mice were fed with a high-fat diet starting from 6 weeks of age. Mice were randomized into three groups（n = 8 in each group）： model group（Apo E-/-group）, RYR group（Apo E-/-＋ RYR group）, and simvastatin group（Apo E-/-＋ simvastatin group）. Eight 6-week-old C57BL/6 mice were assigned as the control group and fed with a basic diet. After 36 weeks, plasma lipids and inflammatory factors were measured. Aortic atherosclerotic lesions by microscope, scanning electron microscope and transmission electron microscope were observed. Plasma levels of interleukin-6（IL-6） and tumor necrosis factor-α（TNF-α） were measured with enzymelinked immunosorbent assay. The level of high sensitivity C-reaction protein（Hs-CRP） was detected by the scattering immunoturbidimetric assay. Protein expression of matrix metalloproteinase-9（MMP-9） and nuclear factor κB（NF-κB） in aorta were tested by immunohistochemistry. Results： Compared with the model group, treatment with RYR significantly decreased the levels of total cholesterol, triglyceride, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, lipoprotein（a）, and apolipoprotein B100 in Apo E-/-mice（P〈0.01）. Compared with the model group, treatment with RYR decreased the levels of Hs-CRP, IL-6, and TNF-α（P〈0.01）. RYR also reduced the protein levels of NF-κB and MMP-9 of the aorta. Conclusions： RYR has the anti-atherosclerotic and stabilizing unstable plaque effects. The mechanism might be related to the inflammatory signaling pathways.