Effects of Monascus rice powder on lipid metabolism in hamsters

The proposed study evaluated the cholesterol-lowering effectiveness and the plasma total antioxidative status produced by Monascus rice powder in hamster. Seventy-two weanling male hamsters were housed and divided into three groups and fed a cholesterol diet (1 g/kg diet) to induce hypercholesterolemia for this study. Various doses (4 g/kg diet for low dose and 16 g/kg diet for high dose) of Monascus rice powder were administrated for this study. After treatment with different doses of Monascus rice powder, the blood and liver were taken for lipid profiles including triglycerol (TG), total cholesterol, lipoprotein cholesterol, and phospholipids analysis and plasma total antioxidant status. Results indicated that the plasma TG and cholesterol levels decreased in the Monascus rice powder treated groups. The lipid accumulation in the liver also diminished over the four-week administration. Monascus rice powder diets presented diminishing effectiveness on hepatic TG and cholesterol accumulation. From the dose viewpoint, high doses of Monascus rice powder presented greater effectiveness lowering plasma cholesterol and hepatic lipid accumulation. Moreover, when the Monascus rice powder was excluded from diets, the plasma and hepatic TG and cholesterol elevated dramatically. Monascus rice powder also enhanced total plasma antioxidative status, however, the mechanism still remains to be elucidated.