Dr. Tzu-Ming Pan is an Emeritus Professor of Biotechnology at the National Taiwan University in Taipei. His research over many years focused on beneficial molecules produced by Monascus and many other plants and bacteria. His lab identified a strain of Monascus that did not make monacolin K, yet surprisingly was able to reduce LDL cholesterol in animal models.
Figure 4. The Monascus strain used to make Ankascin (A), and the chemical structures of Monascin (B) and Ankaflavin (C).
After several years of work, Dr. Pan and his group isolated two molecules from red yeast rice that were responsible for this cholesterol lowering effect. These molecules, named monascin and ankaflavin, are chemically very similar (see Figure 4), suggesting that they function in similar or complementary cellular pathways. In fact, they turned out to have other remarkable properties: not only could monascin and ankaflavin lower LDL cholesterol levels in the blood, they also helped in the management of blood pressure, blood sugar, and Alzheimer’s disease.
Dr. Pan’s group and others have published almost 100 research papers in the last 10 years that reported these findings. The red yeast rice extract they produced was called Ankascin 568-R. It is enriched with monascin and ankaflavin, and its safety and efficacy have been demonstrated in several clinical trials for different treatment conditions.
This data led to the inclusion of Ankascin in the FDA’s list of New Dietary Ingredients that are reasonably expected to be safe14. It also received approval for sale by Health Canada’s Natural and Non-Prescription Health Products Directorate. As a supplement that is free of both monacolin K and citrinin, it is safe and effective for both short and long term use.
NOT ONLY COULD MONASCIN AND ANKAFLAVIN LOWER LDL CHOLESTEROL LEVELS IN THE BLOOD, THEY ALSO HELPED IN THE MANAGEMENT OF BLOOD PRESSURE, BLOOD SUGAR, AND ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE.
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