Atteintes musculaires et levure de riz rouge : analyse des données de la base nationale de pharmacovigilance et revue de la littérature

Abstract

Red yeast rice (RYR) is a dietary supplement containing monacolins obtained by fermentation of Monascus purpureus strains. Because of its structural homology with lovastatin, monacolinK inhibits HMG-CoA reductase and shows hypocholesterolemic properties comparable to synthetic statins. We studied all cases of myopathy involving RYR reported in the French national pharmacovigilance database (6cases) and in scientific literature (9cases). Among these cases, 9showed elevated creatine kinase, 3rhabdomyolysis and 2myalgia. Recent studies seem to show good efficacy of the RYR, however, our work reports the existence of related muscular disorders. In addition, dietary supplements currently available on the market may show considerable variability of formulation and/or the presence of contaminants. When clinicobiological disorders occur, physicians should consider the eventual use of an herbal treatment.