title: Ester percentages of plant sterols and cholesterol in chylomicrons and VLDL of humans with low and high sterol absorption.
abstract: Ester percentages of cholesterol and non-cholesterol sterols were measured in chylomicrons and very low density lipoproteins (VLDL) in 15 subjects. Our hypothesis was that in humans, in contrast to animal experiments, plant sterols in chylomicrons are esterified similarly to cholesterol. In fact, the mean ester percentage of chylomicron sitosterol (approximately 40%), but not of campesterol ( approximately 51%), was lower than that of cholesterol (approximately 54%) in the whole study population. In high cholesterol absorbers (high serum total campesterol, > or = 2.8 mmol/mol of cholesterol), the ester percentages of sitosterol and other non-cholesterol sterols were similar to that of cholesterol in chylomicrons, and the percentages tended to be higher than those in low absorbers. In contrast to chylomicrons, the ester percentages of sterols in VLDL tended to be lower in the high than low absorbers. In conclusion, percentages of plant sterol esters are not consistently lower than those of cholesterol in chylomicrons.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Nutrition, University of Kuopio, P.O. Box 1627, FI-70211 Kuopio, Finland. helena.gylling@uku.fi
authors.forename: H K
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Gylling
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hallikainen
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Vidgren
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Agren
authors.forename: T A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Miettinen
mesh_terms: D000042:Absorption; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D002914:Chylomicrons / Q000378:metabolism*; D004952:Esters / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D008055:Lipids / Q000097:blood; D008079:Lipoproteins, VLDL / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010840:Phytosterols / Q000737:chemistry*; D010944:Plants / Q000378:metabolism*; D012855:Sitosterols / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D002914:Chylomicrons; D004952:Esters; D008055:Lipids; D008079:Lipoproteins, VLDL; D010840:Phytosterols; D012855:Sitosterols; C025473:gamma-sitosterol; D002784:Cholesterol