Ekstrak Monascus purpureus (angkak) mampu Menurunkan GM-CSF pada Penderita Demam Berdarah

Penyakit demam berdarah akibat infeksi virus dengue dapat dikategorikan sebagai penyakit dengan self limiting disease dengan masa penyembuhan sekitar 7 hari. Pada perjalanan penyakit tersebut, seringkali ditemukan berbagai macam penyulit yang dapat menyebabkan terjadinya komplikasi hingga kematian. Berbagai permasalahan klinis yang ditimbulkan akan mengakibatkan penurunan kondisi penderita secara umum. Salah satu komplikasi berbahaya yang dapat ditimbulkan dari demam berdarah adalah timbulnya syok dan perdarahan. Pemberian asupan ekstrak Monascus purpureus mampu menurunkan kadar Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony Stimulating Factor (GM-CSF), sehingga mampu mencegah komplikasi lebih lanjut. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui pengaruh asupan ekstrak Monascus purpureus terhadap perubahan kadar GM-CSF pada penderita demam berdarah. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode eksperimental pada 2 kelompok yaitu kelompok kontrol dan kelompok perlakuan yang diberikan asupan ekstrak Monascus purpureus selama 3 hari. Jumlah sampel yang digunakan pada setiap kelompok berjumlah 15 orang. Parameter yang digunakan pada penelitian tersebut adalah kadar GM-CSF setelah pemberian perlakuan. Hasil penelitian memperlihatkan adanya perbedaan kadar GM-CSF pada kelompok kontrol dan kelompok perlakuan (p<0,05). Sehingga dapat disimpulkam pemberian asupan ekstrak Monascus purpureus selama 3 hari mampu menurunkan kadar GM-CSF penderita demam berdarah.

Monascin and Ankaflavin of Monascus purpureus Prevent Alcoholic Liver Disease through Regulating AMPK-Mediated Lipid Metabolism and Enhancing Both Anti-Inflammatory and Anti-Oxidative Systems

Alcohol metabolism causes an excessive accumulation of liver lipids and inflammation, resulting in liver damage. The yellow pigments monascin (MS) and ankaflavin (AK) of Monascus purpureus-fermented rice were proven to regulate ethanol-induced damage in HepG2 cells, but the complete anti-inflammatory and anti-fatty liver mechanisms in the animal model are still unclear. This study explored the roles of MS and AK in improving alcoholic liver injury. MS and AK were simultaneously fed to evaluate their effects and mechanisms in C57BL/6J mice fed the Lieber–DeCarli liquid alcohol diet for 6 weeks. The results indicated that MS and AK significantly reduced the serum aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase activity, as well as the total liver cholesterol and triglyceride levels. The histopathological results indicated that MS and AK prevented lipid accumulation in the liver. MS and AK effectively enhanced the activity of antioxidant enzymes and reduced the degree of lipid peroxidation; AK was particularly effective and exhibited a superior preventive effect against alcoholic liver injury and fatty liver. In addition to inhibiting the phosphorylation of the MAPK family, MS and AK directly reduced TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β levels, thereby reducing NF-κB and its downstream iNOS and COX-2 expressions, as well as increasing PPAR-γ, Nrf-2, and HO-1 expressions to prevent liver damage. MS and AK also directly reduced TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β expression, thereby reducing the production of NF-κB and its downstream iNOS and COX-2, and increasing PPAR-γ, Nrf-2, and HO-1 expressions, preventing alcohol damage to the liver.

New record of species Monascus purpureus in Iraq

This study was conducted in the Laboratory of Fungus in the Department of Biology / College of Science / University of Qadisiyah to isolate and diagnose some insulation from fungi isolated from imported dried fruits (raisins) in Qadisiyah province, Iraq. The isolations were diagnosed both morphologically and microscopically using the classification keys and to confirm the appearance and microscopic diagnosis diagnosed using polymerase chain reaction(PCR), And determine the sequence of nitrogen bases (Nucleotide sequence(of compound DNA products using ITS1 and ITS4. The results of the nucleotide sequence analysis of DNA (PCR product) compounding innate isolation and using BLAST to compare with data available at the U.S. National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) have shown that this isolation belongs to the type Monascus purpureus. By comparing the sequence of nitrogen bases of isolated M. purpureus fungus in this study, it was found that there was a 100% similarity to many of the M. purpureus fungus isolates previously registered at the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), including those diagnosed in China (MT361825, MK359689, MW581230) and Japan (AB477248).

Production of Natural Colorant by Monascus Purpureus FNCC 6008 using Rice and Cassava as Carbon Substrates

Consumer recognition of the adverse effects of synthetic colorant has increased awareness in utilizing natural colorants as an alternative. One of them is a microbial colorant and it is already studied for its safety and functional properties in the human body, i.e. hypercholesterolemia, antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anticancer. The functional properties of microbial colorant have driven many kinds of research about natural colorant produced by the microorganism. Monascus pigment is one of the popular red pigment synthesized by mold Monascus purpureus. This research was conducted to investigate the effects of particle size and incubation temperature on color value and water solubility of the natural colorant produced by M. purpureus FNCC 6008 using rice and cassava as carbon substrates. Every experiment was conducted in an erlenmeyer flask filled by 15 g of substrates, sterilized and incubated in an incubator chamber. Three particle sizes of 8, 10, and 16 mesh were employed on the incubation temperatures of 30, 32, and 34 oC for 14 days. Two parameters were measured from the sample to evaluate the results of the fermentation process, i.e. color intensity and water solubility of product. The highest color intensity of 59.6 CVU/gds was obtained from the rice substrate at the particle size of 10 mesh and incubation temperature of 32 oC. That particular fermentation condition resulted in a product with 71.4% product solubility.