Discovery and development of statins trials showed very good inhibitory effect as in clinical trials, however in a long term toxicity study in dogs it resulted in toxic effects at higher doses and as a result was believed to be too toxic to be given to humans. In 1978, Alfred Alberts and colleagues at Merck Research Laboratories discovered a new natural product in a fermentation broth of "Aspergillus terreus", their product showed good HMGR inhibition and they named the product mevinolin, which later became known as lovastatin. The cholesterol controversy began in the early promotion of statins. Statins are a competitive antagonists of HMG CoA,
Red yeast rice (血脂康). The test product was an ethanol extract of red yeast rice, with a monacolin K content of 11.6 mg/day. Key CCSPS results: In the treated group, risk of subsequent heart attacks was reduced by 45%, cardio deaths by 31%, and all-cause deaths by 33%. The CCSPS heart attack and cardiovascular death outcomes appear to be better than what has been reported for prescription statin drugs. A 2008 review pointed out that the cardioprotective effects of statins in Japanese populations occur at lower doses than are needed in Western populations, and theorized that the low amount of monacolins found in