Hypercholesterolemia is one of the major proven risk factors for coronary heart disease (CHD). The present study was conducted to test the effects of β-sitosterol (SI) and three cholesterol analogs on plasma total cholesterol (TC) in hamsters fed a high cholesterol diet. The cholesterol analogs used includes CA0 (no side chain), CA3 ( a side chain of 3 carbons) and CA15 (a side chain of 15 carbons). CA3 and CA15 are straight side chain analogs of cholesterol while SI is an analog of cholesterol having an additional ethyl group on the side chain. Results showed that SI at a dose of 0.15% could effectively reduce plasma TC by 17.7%. SI was not detected in both plasma and liver of the hamsters, indicating that it was poorly absorbed in the intestine. All three analogs, CA0, CA3 and CA15, had no effect on the plasma TC. CA3 and CA14 were found to be accumulated in both plasma and liver, proving that they were well absorbed in the intestine. In conclusion, the study illustrated that analogs having branched side chains possessed plasma TC-lowering activity, while analogs with a straight side chain had no plasma TC-lowering activity.

Cholesterol analogs with a branched side chain but not a straight chain possess a cholesterol-lowering activity

254th National Meeting (2017)

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