- 學位論文
紅麴素在人體的代謝試驗
The experiment of metabolism in human being for Red yeast.
摘要
紅麴米為中國傳統的食品之一，主要用來作為製酒，烹調，以及作為紅色色素之用，在中國傳統的漢方中，紅麴具有促進血液循環的功能。 1979年日本學者 Endo發現紅麴米中含有的一種紅麴素（monacolin K）是人體合成膽固醇第三個步驟中的酵素 HMG-CoA 還原酵素的抑制劑。紅麴素的類似成分已經被世界級的大藥廠開發成控制人體膽固醇的特效藥。紅麴素實際上就是西藥Lovastatin的成分。 本研究乃是從市售的紅麴膠囊，來試驗人體代謝紅麴素的情形。使用A及B廠所製造的紅麴健康食品，採隨機雙向交叉試驗，共四位男性志願者接受此次食用紅麴膠囊，並在食用前採空白血液及食用後開始接受定點採血(在手臂植入留置針)，採血時間24小時含空白採血點共16點(0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, 3.5, 4, 4.5, 5, 6, 8, 10, 13 及 24hours.)，將所有血液經前處理後，以LC/MS/MS分析monacolin K在人體被吸收代謝的曲線圖。 研究結果發現人體食用紅麴素之後首先被吸收代謝成 Lovastatin acid，觀察血液中Lovastatin acid的代謝情形，結果發現在食用後第 6 小時，大部分的Lovastatin acid 都被代謝掉，而到第24小時則完全被人體代謝掉。 所以食用市售的紅麴食品或膠囊在安全的劑量內應該對人體無害。但還是要留意紅麴米可能殘存麴黴素（citrinin）的問題。麴黴素是製造紅麴米時伴隨紅麴素產生的另外一種二次代謝的產物，麴黴素會引發肝中毒，以及癌症的危險。
關鍵字
紅麴並列摘要
Red rice yeast is a traditional Chinese food, the main usage is in making wine, cooking, and red pigment. Red rice yeast could enhance the blood circulation in the traditional Chinese medicine. In 1979, a Japanese scientist, Endo, found that monacolin K in the red rice yeast is an inhibitor of HMG-CoA which is the enzyme of the third step of cholesterol synthesis of human being. The monacolin K and the similar structures were developed by the pharmaceutical companies as drugs to control blood cholesterol. This study was to investigate the metabolism of two monacolin K samples (A, B) which sold in the market as health food. The experiments were performed by randomized, balanced, two sequence, two period, crossover design. There are four men to accept the test of Red rice yeast capsule which contained monacolin K. The men were drawn blood before and after up-taking the monacolin K capsule. The blood were collected by inserting needle in the arm at the following time points: 0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, 3.5, 4, 4.5, 5, 6, 8, 10, 13 and 24 hrs. Those blood samples were prepared by standard procedures and freezed in the stock for further analysis with LC/MS/MS. The monacolin K were metabolized to lovastatin acid in the blood. It was found that the most lovastatin acid was digested at 6 hr, and completely digested at 24 hr. We concluded as save for the monacolin K capsules sold as health food in the market. However, we did not investigate the citrinin in the capsule. Citrinin is another secondary metabolic product usually found in the red yeast rice. Citrinin is a carcinogenic compound.