Background: Xuezhikang, an extract of red yeast rice, effectively lowers fasting blood lipid levels. However, the influence of Xuezhikang on the non-fasting levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-C) has not been explored in Chinese patients with coronary heart disease (CHD).Methods: Fifty CHD patients were enrolled and randomly divided into two groups (n = 25 each) to receive 1,200 mg/d of Xuezhikang or a placebo for 6 weeks as routine therapy. Blood lipids were repeatedly measured before and after 6 weeks of treatment at 0, 2, 4, and 6 h after a standard breakfast containing 800 kcal and 50 g of fat.Results: The serum LDL-C levels significantly decreased, from a fasting level of 3.88 mmol/L to non-fasting levels of 2.99, 2.83, and 3.23 mmol/L at 2, 4, and 6 h, respectively, after breakfast (P < 0.05). The serum non-HDL-C level mildly increased from a fasting level of 4.29 mmol/L to non-fasting levels of 4.32, 4.38, and 4.34 mmol/L at 2, 4, and 6 h post-prandially, respectively, and the difference reached statistical significance only at 4 and 6 h after breakfast (P < 0.05). After 6 weeks of Xuezhikang treatment, the patients had significantly lower fasting and non-fasting serum levels of LDL-C and non-HDL-C (P < 0.05) than at pretreatment. The LDL-C levels were reduced by 27.8, 28.1, 26.2, and 25.3% at 0, 2, 4, and 6 h, respectively, and the non-HDL-C levels were reduced by 27.6, 28.7, 29.0, and 28.0% at 0, 2, 4, and 6 h, respectively, after breakfast. No significant difference was found in the percent reductions in the LDL-C and non-HDL-C levels among the four different time-points.Conclusions: Six weeks of Xuezhikang treatment significantly decreased LDL-C and non-HDL-C levels, with similar percent reductions in fasting and non-fasting states in CHD patients, indicating that the percent change in non-fasting LDL-C or non-HDL-C could replace that in the fasting state for evaluation the efficacy of cholesterol control in CHD patients who are unwilling or unable to fast.

High-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) is a key inflammatory factor in atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases. In Chinese patients with coronary heart disease (CHD), the changes in hs-CRP levels after a daily meal and the effect of statins on those were never explored. A total of 300 inpatients with CHD were included. Hs-CRP levels were measured in fasting and non-fasting state at 2 hour (h) and 4h after a daily breakfast. Group with fasting hs-CRP ≤ 3mg/L had significantly higher percentage of patients with statins using ≥ 1 month (m) than that with fasting hs-CRP > 3mg/L (51.4% vs. 23.9%, P < 0.05). Hs-CRP levels were significantly higher in non-fasting state (P < 0.05). Interestingly, the hs-CRP didn’t elevate significantly in inpatients with statins using ≥ 1m in hs-CRP > 3mg/L group, but it elevated significantly after meal in inpatients without and with statins using < 1m (P < 0.05). About 32% of patients with non-fasting hs-CRP > 3mg/L came from those with fasting hs-CRP ≤ 3mg/L. In conclusion, hs-CRP levels increased significantly in CHD patients after a daily meal. When fasting hs-CRP > 3mg/L but not ≤ 3mg/L, statins work partly in reducing hs-CRP elevation in non-fasting state.

Background: Xuezhikang, an extract of red yeast rice, effectively lowers fasting blood lipid levels. However, the influence of Xuezhikang on the nonfasting levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-C) has not been explored in Chinese patients with coronary heart disease (CHD).Methods: Fifty CHD patients were enrolled and randomly divided into two groups (n = 25 each) to receive 1200 mg/d of Xuezhikang or a placebo for six weeks as routine therapy. Blood lipids were repeatedly measured before and after six weeks of treatment at 0, 2, 4 and 6 hour (h) after a standard breakfast containing 800 kcal and 50 g of fat.Results: The serum LDL-C levels significantly decreased, from a fasting level of 3.88 mmol/L to nonfasting levels of 2.99, 2.83 and 3.23 mmol/L at 2, 4 and 6 h, respectively, after breakfast (P < 0.05). However, no significant difference was found in the total cholesterol (TC) levels between the fasting value and values at any nonfasting time points. The serum non-HDL-C level slightly increased from a fasting level of 4.29 mmol/L to nonfasting levels of 4.32, 4.38 and 4.34 mmol/L at 2, 4 and 6 h postprandially, respectively, and the difference reached statistical significance only at 4 and 6 h after breakfast (P < 0.05). No difference was observed in the fasting and nonfasting blood lipids between the two groups at baseline. After six weeks of Xuezhikang treatment, the patients had significantly lower fasting and nonfasting serum levels of LDL-C and non-HDL-C (P < 0.05) than at pretreatment. The LDL-C levels were reduced by 27.8%, 28.1%, 26.2% and 25.3% at 0, 2, 4 and 6 h, respectively, and the non-HDL-C levels were reduced by 27.6%, 28.7%, 29.0% and 28.0% at 0, 2, 4 and 6 h, respectively, after breakfast. No significant difference was found in the percent reductions in the LDL-C and non-HDL-C levels among the four different time points.Conclusions: Six weeks of Xuezhikang treatment significantly decreased LDL-C and non-HDL-C levels, with similar percent reductions in the fasting and nonfasting states in CHD patients, indicating that the percent change in nonfasting LDL-C or non-HDL-C could replace that in the fasting state for evaluation of the efficacy of cholesterol control in CHD patients who are unwilling or unable to fast.

Background: Xuezhikang, an extract of red yeast rice, effectively lowers fasting blood lipid levels. However, the influence of Xuezhikang on nonfasting levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-C) has not been explored in Chinese patients with coronary heart disease (CHD).Methods: Fifty CHD patients were enrolled and randomly divided into two groups (each n = 25) to receive 1200 mg/d Xuezhikang or not for six weeks as routine therapy. Blood lipids were measured repeatedly before and after six weeks of treatment at 0, 2, 4 and 6 hours (h) after a standard breakfast containing 800 kcal and 50 g fat.Result: Serum LDL-C levels significantly decreased, from a fasting level of 3.88 mmol/L to nonfasting levels of 2.99, 2.83 and 3.23 mmol/L at 2, 4 and 6 h, respectively, after breakfast (P<0.05), while there was no significant difference in total cholesterol (TC) levels between the fasting value and the values at any nonfasting time-points. The serum non-HDL-C level mildly increased from a fasting level of 4.29 mmol/L to nonfasting levels of 4.32, 4.38 and 4.34 mmol/L at 2, 4 and 6 h postprandially, respectively, and the difference reached statistical significance only at 4 and 6 h after breakfast (P < 0.05). There was no difference in fasting and nonfasting blood lipids between the two groups at baseline. After six weeks of Xuezhikang treatment, patients had significantly lower fasting and nonfasting serum levels of LDL-C and HDL-C (P < 0.05) than they did pretreatment. LDL-C levels were reduced by 27.8%, 28.1%, 26.2% and 25.3% at 0, 2, 4 and 6 h, respectively, and non-HDL-C levels were reduced by 27.6%, 28.7%, 29.0% and 28.0% at 0, 2, 4 and 6 h, respectively, after breakfast. There was no significant difference in the percent reductions in LDL-C and non-HDL-C levels among the four different time-points.Conclusions: A six-week Xuezhikang (1200 mg/d) treatment significantly decreased LDL-C and non-HDL-C levels, with similar percent reductions in fasting and nonfasting states in CHD patients. This may indicate that nonfasting blood lipids detected at the same time point after a standard meal could replace fasting blood lipids when evaluating the efficacy of cholesterol control in CHD patients who are unwilling or unable to fast.

Background: Xuezhikang, an extract of red yeast rice, effectively lowers fasting and postprandial triglyceride (TG) levels. It was unknown that whether Xuezhikang could contribute the lipid management goals, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (nonHDL-C) at fasting and postprandial states in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD).Methods: Fifty CAD patients were divided into Xuezhikang (XZK, n=25) group and control (CON, n=25) group randomly to receive red yeast rice exact, 1200mg/d Xuezhikang capsules or not for 6 weeks (6w). Blood lipids were detected repeatedly before and after 6w at 0, 2, 4 and 6 hours (h) after a standard breakfast with 800kcal.Result: When taking all patients as a whole (n=50), serum LDL-C level decreased while TG and RC levels increased significantly at 2, 4 and 6 h after breakfast (P＜0.05). Serum nonHDL-C level mildly but significantly increased at 4h and 6h after breakfast (P＜0.05). Short-term Xuezhikang treatment decreased tAUCs of TC, TG, LDL-C, nonHDL-C and RC whereas increased that of HDL-C significantly (P＜0.05). Serum LDL-C level showed a drop of 27.8%, 28.1%, 26.2%, 25.3% at 0, 2, 4 and 6 h, respectively, after breakfast. Serum nonHDL-C level showed a drop of 27.6%, 28.7%, 29.0% and 28.0% at 0, 2, 4 and 6 h, respectively. There was no significant difference in the percentages of reduction in LDL-C or nonHDL-C level among four time-points.Conclusions: Xuezhikang significantly decreased LDL-C or nonHDL-C level with similar percentages of reduction between fasting and postprandial states in patients with CAD, indicating that postprandial blood lipids detected at the same time point after a daily meal could replace fasting blood lipids to evaluate the efficacy of cholesterol-lowering therapy in CAD patients, unwilling or unable to keep a fasting state.