title: Cholesterol side chain analogs but not its ether analogs possess cholesterol-lowering activity.
abstract: Cholesterol analogs can be used to treat hypercholesterolemia. The present study was to test the effects of cholesteryl 3β-ethoxy (CE) and cholesteryl 3β-methoxy (CM) on plasma total cholesterol (TC) compared with that of β-sitosterol (SI) in hamsters fed a high cholesterol diet. CM and CE are the methoxy and ethoxy 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 0.1% could effectively reduce plasma TC by 18%. The analysis of sterols in the plasma and liver did not detect the presence of SI, proving that it was poorly absorbed in the intestine. In contrast, both CE and CM had no effect on plasma TC. However, CE and CM were found to accumulate in both plasma and liver, indicating that they could be well absorbed in the intestine. It was therefore concluded that analogs having different side chains possessed plasma TC-lowering activity, while analogs or derivatives on the hydroxyl group had no hypocholesterolemic activity.
authors.affiliation: Food & Nutritional Sciences Programme, School of Life Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong, China. zhenyuchen@cuhk.edu.hk.
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lei
authors.forename: Xiaobo
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Weihuan
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Yuwei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Fangrui
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Ka Ying
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Yuk Man
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Lijun
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Sun Wa
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Man
authors.forename: Chengnan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Zhen-Yu
authors.initials: ZY
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000924:Anticholesteremic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000097:blood* / Q000494:pharmacology; D002791:Cholesterol, Dietary / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects; D006224:Cricetinae; D059305:Diet, High-Fat / Q000009:adverse effects; D005243:Feces / Q000737:chemistry; D006937:Hypercholesterolemia / Q000188:drug therapy; D008099:Liver / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D009929:Organ Size / Q000187:drug effects; D012855:Sitosterols / Q000494:pharmacology; D013261:Sterols / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D000924:Anticholesteremic Agents; D002791:Cholesterol, Dietary; D012855:Sitosterols; D013261:Sterols; C000605370:cholesteryl 3beta-ethoxy; C000605371:cholesteryl 3beta-methoxy; C025473:gamma-sitosterol; D002784:Cholesterol