Divergent changes in serum sterols during a strict uncooked vegan diet in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
The effects of a strict uncooked vegan diet on serum lipid and sterol concentrations were studied in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. The subjects were randomized into a vegan diet group (n 16), who consumed a vegan diet for 2-3 months, or into a control group (n 13), who continued their usual omnivorous diets. Serum total and LDL-cholesterol and -phospholipid concentrations were significantly decreased by the vegan diet. The levels of serum cholestanol and lathosterol also decreased, but serum cholestanol:total cholesterol and lathosterol:total cholesterol did not change. The effect of a vegan diet on serum plant sterols was divergent as the concentration of campesterol decreased while that of sitosterol increased. This effect resulted in a significantly greater sitosterol:campesterol value in the vegan diet group than in the control group (1.48 (SD 0.39) v. 0.72 (SD 0.14); P < 0.001). A higher concentration of campesterol compared with sitosterol is normal in omnivorous subjects and can be explained by lower absorption and esterification rates of sitosterol. Our results suggest that a strict uncooked vegan diet changes the relative absorption rates of these sterols and/or their biliary clearance.
Department of Physiology, University of Kuopio, PO Box 1627, SF-70211 Kuopio, Finland. Jyrki.Agren@uku.fi
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Agren
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Tvrzicka
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Nenonen
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Helve
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Hänninen
D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000097:blood / Q000178:diet therapy*; D004083:Cholestanol / Q000097:blood; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000097:blood; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL / Q000097:blood; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL / Q000097:blood; D014676:Diet, Vegetarian; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010743:Phospholipids / Q000097:blood; D010840:Phytosterols; D012855:Sitosterols / Q000097:blood; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013261:Sterols / Q000097:blood*
D008076:Cholesterol, HDL; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL; D010743:Phospholipids; D010840:Phytosterols; D012855:Sitosterols; D013261:Sterols; C021273:campesterol; C025473:gamma-sitosterol; C001521:lathosterol; D004083:Cholestanol; D002784:Cholesterol