Sitosterolemia is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by increased plant sterol levels, xanthomas, and accelerated atherosclerosis. Although it was originally reported in patients with normolipemic xanthomas, severe hypercholesterolemia have been reported in patients with sitosterolemia, especially in children. Sitosterolemia is caused by increased intestinal absorption and decreased ...

In this study, we evaluated the effects of dietary plant sterols and stanols as their fatty acid esters on the development of experimental colitis. The effects were studied both in high- and low-fat diet conditions in two models, one acute and another chronic model of experimental colitis that resembles gene expression in human inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). In the first experiments in the h...

Creationists and evolutionists acknowledge that the human diet has passed through at least four phases. The original plant food-based diet; a second phase of increasing meat consumption; a third phase of agricultural dependence on starchy foods; and, finally, the supermarket high-saturated fat, low-fibre phase with minimal energy expenditure. Our aim is to define the value of the original or 'G...

Behavioural studies of the grasshopper Schistocerca americana were undertaken to identify the mechanisms that regulate the intake of dietary sterols. In the first experiment, grasshoppers were allowed to feed on spinach, a plant containing only unsuitable sterols; immediately after this first meal, a suitable or unsuitable sterol was injected into the haemolymph. Grasshoppers injected with unsu...

As Heftmann, Bennett, and Bonner have indicated (l), considerable information has accumulated concerning the biosynthesis of sterols in animals (2) and fungi (3), yet practically nothing is known about the biogenesis of typically higher plant sterols or the numerous pentacyclic triterpenes that are widely distributed throughout the plant kingdom. As yet, it cannot be assumed that the over-all b...

Phytosterols (plant sterols and stanols) are known LDL-cholesterol lowering agents. Consequently, food products containing these plant compounds are widely used as a therapeutic dietary option to reduce plasma cholesterol and cardiovascular risk. The cholesterol-lowering action of dietary phytosterols is thought to occur, at least in part, through competition with dietary and biliary cholestero...

The analysis of fecal neutral sterols has been improved by use of a highly selective gas-liquid chromatography column packed with SP-2401. This chromatographic column allows separation of cholesterol and cholestanol and delta 5-5 alpha plant sterol homologs without employing silver nitrate thin-layer chromatography. Furthermore, there is no need to derivatize neutral sterols before injection. T...

OBJECTIVE To determine the effectiveness of prescribing 2 g plant sterols/stanols per day as an addition to standard practice in a dietary outpatient clinic. DESIGN A randomized parallel design of comparative 12-week interventions. SUBJECTS/SETTING Patients referred by a general practitioner to a dietary outpatient clinic for the management of hyperlipidemia were eligible. Twenty-five patie...

Phytosterols are bioactive compounds found in foods of plant origin, which can be divided into plant sterols and plant stanols. Clinical studies consistently indicate that the intake of phytosterols (2 g/day) is associated with a significant reduction (8-10%) in levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-cholesterol). Thus, several guidelines recommend the intake of 2 g/day of plant ste...