Plasma lathosterol measures rates of cholesterol synthesis and efficiency of dietary phytosterols in reducing the plasma cholesterol concentration

• Published in: Clinics (São Paulo, Brazil) Vol. 77; p. 100028
• Main Authors: Nunes, Valéria Sutti, Ilha, Angela de Oliveira Godoy, Ferreira, Guilherme da Silva, Bombo, Renata de Paula Assis, Afonso, Milessa Silva, Lavrador, Maria Silvia Ferrari, Machado, Roberta Marcondes, Nakandakare, Edna Regina, Quintão, Eder Carlos Rocha, Lottenberg, Ana Maria
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; Portuguese
• Published: United States Elsevier España, S.L.U 01.01.2022; Hospital das Clinicas da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Sao Paulo; Faculdade de Medicina / USP; Elsevier España
• Subjects: Cholesterol; Cholesterol, HDL; Cholesterol, LDL; Cross-Over Studies; Diet; Humans; Lathosterol; MEDICINE, GENERAL & INTERNAL; Original; Phytosterols; Lathosterol; Diet; Cholesterol; Phytosterols
• ISSN: 1807-5932; 1980-5322; 1980-5322
• DOI: 10.1016/j.clinsp.2022.100028

•Phytosterols supplementation reduced total cholesterol, LDL-C, apo B, and triglycerides.•Phytosterols supplementation increased plasma lathosterol as well as campesterol and sitosterol, indicating compliance to the diets.•Lathosterol-to-cholesterol ratio predicted the cholesterol response to phytosterols feeding.•High basal cholesterol synthesis is associated with a lack of response to plasma cholesterol. Because the plasma campesterol/cholesterol ratio does not differ between groups that absorb different amounts of cholesterol, the authors investigated whether the plasma Phytosterols (PS) relate to the body's cholesterol synthesis rate measured as non-cholesterol sterol precursors (lathosterol). The authors studied 38 non-obese volunteers (58±12 years; Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol ‒ LDL-C ≥ 130 mg/dL) randomly assigned to consume 400 mL/day of soy milk (Control phase) or soy milk + PS (1.6 g/day) for four weeks in a double-blind, cross-over study. PS and lathosterol were measured in plasma by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrophotometry. PS treatment reduced plasma total cholesterol concentration (-5.5%, p < 0.001), LDL-C (-7.6%, p < 0.001), triglycerides (-13.6%, p < 0.0085), and apolipoprotein B (apo B) (-6.3%, p < 0.008), without changing high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C concentration), but plasma lathosterol, campesterol and sitosterol expressed per plasma cholesterol increased. The lathosterol-to-cholesterol plasma ratio predicted the plasma cholesterol response to PS feeding. The highest plasma lathosterol concentration during the control phase was associated with a lack of response of plasma cholesterol during the PS treatment period. Consequently, cholesterol synthesis in non-responders to dietary PS being elevated in the control phase indicates these cases resist to further synthesis rise, whereas responders to dietary PS, having in the control phase synthesis values lower than non-responders, expand synthesis on alimentary PS. Responders absorb more PS than non-responders, likely resulting from responders delivering into the intestinal lumen less endogenous cholesterol than non-responders do, thus facilitating greater intestinal absorption of PS shown as increased plasma PS concentration.