Plasma plant sterol levels: another coronary heart disease risk factor?

The disorder Phytoterolemia is characterized by 50fold elevations in plasma plant sterol levels as well as tendon xanthomas and premature coronary heart disease.1 On pathological examination the xanthomas and arteries of these patients contain plant sterols.2 This has raised questions of whether plant sterols are proatherogenic and whether the “normal” variation of plasma plant sterol levels in the general population is a risk factor for coronary heart disease. The article by Wilund et al in the December 2004 issue of Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology attempts to answer both questions through a mouse atherosclerosis study and an epidemiological study.3