BMC Nutrition (Nov 2022)

Evaluation the effects of red yeast rice in combination with statin on lipid profile and inflammatory indices; a randomized clinical trial

  • Ali Tavan,
  • Saam Noroozi,
  • Bardia Zamiri,
  • Reza Gholchin Vafa,
  • Mohammadhossein Rahmani,
  • Mohammadjavad Mehdizadeh Parizi,
  • Amin Ahmadi,
  • Reza Heydarzade,
  • Mohammad Montaseri,
  • Seyed Ali Hosseini,
  • Javad Kojuri

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s40795-022-00639-z
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 8, no. 1
pp. 1 – 6

Abstract

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Abstract Background Dyslipidemia is a prominent cause of cardiovascular disease as it leads to inflammation and plaque deposition within arteries. Treatment includes lifestyle modifications and lipid-lowering medications. We aimed to assess the therapeutic effects of red yeast rice (RYR) alongside statin therapy. Methods This triple-blind randomized clinical trial involved 92 dyslipidemia patients and was performed in 2019. Standard laboratory tests were used to assess the serum LDL cholesterol (LDL-C), HDL cholesterol (HDL-C), total cholesterol, triglyceride (TG), and high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) levels. Subsequently, patients randomly received one daily RYR or placebo tablet for 1 month beside routine single statin therapy. Subsequently, blood tests were repeated and compared against the baseline. Liver function tests were also requested. Results Total cholesterol significantly (P = 0.019) decreased in the treatment group (− 10.2 mg/dL) compared with the placebo group (− 1.3 mg/dL). HDL cholesterol decreased by 2.19 mg/dL in the treatment group but increased by 0.53 mg/dL in the treatment group (P = 0.083). LDL cholesterol declined in both placebo (− 5.09) and treatment (− 0.73) groups (P = 0.187). TG increased by about 7 mg/dL in the treatment group but fell by roughly 1 mg/dL in the placebo group (P = 0.386). Hs-CRP increased by 0.28 mg/dL in the treatment group but decreased by 0.09 mg/dL in the placebo group (P = 0.336). Conclusions We found that adding RYR (Lesstat®) to statin medications significantly decreases total cholesterol. However, no significant effect was seen on other lipid profile components or Hs-CRP. Finally, we showed that RYR is safe to add to statins considering liver function (clinicaltrials.gov: NCT05095480).

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