red yeast rice (Monascus purpureus)

Reported Uses

• NOTE: see Herb & Supplement Effectiveness Rating Definitions table
• atherosclerosis [Insufficient Evidence]
• cancer prevention [Insufficient Evidence]
• cancer prevention, liver [Insufficient Evidence]
• coronary heart dz [Insufficient Evidence]
• diabetes mellitus [Insufficient Evidence]
• dyslipidemia, HIV/AIDS-related [Possibly Effective]
• hyperlipidemia [Likely Effective]
• HTN [Possibly Ineffective]
• metabolic syndrome [Insufficient Evidence]
• MI prevention [Possibly Effective]
• nonalcoholic fatty liver dz [Insufficient Evidence]
• overall mortality [Insufficient Evidence]
• postop recovery [Insufficient Evidence]
• stroke prevention [Insufficient Evidence]

Reported Doses

Safety/efficacy may not be established; reported doses may be derived from limited or potentially inadequate studies w/ variable regimens, multi-ingredient products, or where concentration of active ingredients may vary widely

Special Note

[formulation clarification]

red yeast rice products may contain varying, potentially significant monacolin concentrations (incl. monacolin K, which is identical to lovastatin); see lovastatin for FDA-approved Rx product; all other preparations are not FDA-approved

Effectiveness Ratings

[see Herb & Supplement Effectiveness Rating Definitions table]

atherosclerosis

[Insufficient Evidence]

Dose: 960-1800 mg PO qd

cancer prevention

[Insufficient Evidence]

Dose: 1200 mg PO qd

cancer prevention, liver

[Insufficient Evidence]

Dose: 600 mg PO bid

dyslipidemia, HIV/AIDS-related

[Possibly Effective]

Dose: 1200 mg PO bid

hyperlipidemia

[Likely Effective]

Dose: 100-4800 mg/day PO divided qd-bid; Alt: 167 mg PO tid; 2.5-2.9 mg monacolin K PO qd

metabolic syndrome

[Insufficient Evidence]

Dose: 10 mg monacolin K PO qd; Alt: 200 mg PO qd

MI prevention

[Possibly Effective]

Dose: 1200 mg/day PO divided bid