Mechanisms of Chinese Red Yeast Rice Inhibition of Prostate Cancer Growth

摘要

Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in men in the United States (1). Chinese Red Yeast Rice (RYR) is a traditional food spice consumed throughout Asia (2, 3), and RYR contains a family of monacolins, one of which (monacolin K) is identical in structure to lovastatin, with the ability to inhibit cholesterol synthesis and lower plasma cholesterol levels in humans (4, 5). Since de novo cholesterogenesis is required for tumor growth, RYR may inhibit cancer cell growth. Statins are known to have anti-inflammatory properties (7, 8) and inflammation has been proposed as a critical step in prostate carcinogenesis. We hypothesized that RYR prevent against prostate cancer via cholesterol synthesis inhibition, inflammation or both. The primary specific aim of this proposal was to determine whether RYR can inhibit the growth of the androgen-dependent and independent prostate tumors in vivo. A secondary specific aim was to determine the mechanisms by which RYR suppresses the growth of androgen dependent and androgen receptor-overexpressing androgenindependent LNCaP tumor xenografts.