As people's living conditions continue to improve, they tend to eat high-calorie, high-fat foods, and these foods rich in cholesterol are the culprits of cardiovascular diseases.
As early as the 1950s, phytosterols, as a class of natural substances, were confirmed to have the physiological function of inhibiting the absorption of cholesterol in the intestine and reducing cholesterol content. It is widely distributed in nature and is one of the components of cell membranes in plants. It is also a precursor for the synthesis of various hormones, vitamin D, and steroid compounds. There are many types of natural plant sterols, mainly including 4 methyl-free sterols: stigmasterol, β-sitosterol, campesterol, and rapeseed sterol.
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About Phytosterols
Source
Phytosterols are widely found in the roots, stems, leaves, fruits, and seeds of plants, and their content varies in different plant species. Phytosterols are mainly derived from vegetable oils, wheat, fruits, and vegetables. The ingested saturated phytosterols are less, and they mainly come from corn, wheat, rye, and rice. All vegetable oils contain sterols, but the processing of more oils (such as refining, decolorization, and deodorization) greatly reduces the content of sterols in vegetable oils.
Structure
Phytosterols are a class of substances with cyclopentane perhydrophenanthrene as the skeleton (also known as steroid nucleus). They exist in free or bound states in nature and have the same role as cholesterol in animals. Phytosterols also play a role in stabilizing cell membranes in plant cells. At present, more than 40 types of phytosterols have been confirmed, among which β-sitosterol, stigmasterol, and campesterol are the main ones. The structure of these sterols is similar to that of cholesterol, and they all belong to 4-methyl-free sterols. They have the same chiral structure, and the only difference in structure is the side chain, but it is these small differences in the side chains that lead to their very different physiological functions.
Properties
Phytosterols are an active ingredient in plants, similar in structure to animal sterols such as cholesterol. Sterols exist in plants in four forms, namely free state, sterol esters, sterol glycosides and acylated sterol glycosides. Free sterols and sterol esters are soluble in non-polar solvents such as n-hexane, while steryl glycosides and acylated steryl glycosides require polar modifiers to dissolve. Most phytosterols are solid, such as sitosterol, campesterol, and stigmasterol. The larger the side chain, the stronger the hydrophobicity of the phytosterol, and the double bonds on the side chain make the sterol hydrophilic.
The principle of phytosterols in lowering blood lipids
1. Competing for cholesterol transmembrane transporters - intracellular and extracellular flow
Both cholesterol and phytosterols are water-insoluble substances. They can only be absorbed by the body after being dissolved in micelles. Due to their structural similarities, phytosterols can compete with dietary cholesterol to enter mixed micelles; the ability of micelles to dissolve hydrophobic molecules is certain. Since phytosterols are more hydrophobic than cholesterol, the former can replace cholesterol in mixed micelles and enter mixed micelles preferentially.
In summary, phytosterols reduce the solubility of cholesterol in mixed micelles.
2. Interfering with cholesterol to form chylomicrons
Cholesterol entering the small intestinal epithelial cells is esterified to form cholesterol esters under the action of ACAT2, and the latter forms chylomicrons with triglycerides, apolipoproteins, etc. Phytosterols can occupy the binding sites required for ACAT2 to catalyze cholesterol esterification, and then reduce the esterification efficiency of ACAT2 to cholesterol through competitive inhibition, thereby inhibiting the entry of cholesterol esters into chylomicrons and secretion into lymph, thereby reducing the absorption of cholesterol in the human intestine.
3. Regulation of cholesterol absorption efficiency at the genetic level
Phytosterols can reduce cholesterol ester formation in the intestinal cavity by competing for transporter (NPCIL1) sites, and ABCG5/ABCG8 expression inhibits cholesterol synthesis in liver tissue and reduces cholesterol ester synthesis, thereby reducing cholesterol absorption efficiency.
Application of phytosterols
A large number of works have been published on the application of phytosterols, covering medicine, cosmetics, food (including aviation food), optical products, feed, paint, pigment, resin, papermaking, textiles, pesticides herbicides, etc.
At present, the most widely used is in medicine, where phytosterols are used as raw materials for steroid hormone drugs, cholesterol-lowering drugs, anti-inflammatory and antipyretic drugs, etc.
The application trend in the food field is mainly as a functional active ingredient for preventing cardiovascular diseases. At present, the relationship between the addition amount and composition of phytosterols and the main ingredients of food (such as the composition and content of fatty acids) has begun to be established.
The new resource food "phytosterols" recently approved by the Ministry of Health of China is called "the key to life" and "the scavenger of blood vessels" by Chinese and foreign experts. The scientific combination of "phytosterols" and milk, known as the "king of nutrition", has played a role in preventing and coordinating the treatment of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases - promoting the production of fibrinolytic activating factor, as a fibrinolytic trigger, playing a role in preventing and coordinating the treatment of thrombosis. Prevent the absorption of cholesterol and the accumulation of blood lipids, so that excess cholesterol and blood lipids in the blood are discharged from the body with urine and feces, which plays a role in preventing and coordinating the treatment of diseases and symptoms such as hypertension and hyperlipidemia. Long-term drinking increases the elasticity of blood vessels and reduces the incidence of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.
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In recent years, due to the discovery of the thermal stability of plant sterols and their antioxidant and anti-polymerization capabilities, the introduction of plant sterols in the frying oil industry is not far away. The research progress and trends on the relationship between diet, genes, and diseases show that one day in the future, the RDA healthy diet recommendations including plant sterols and their components will be modified to be more suitable for individuals. The research progress and trends will also clarify the impact of plant sterols on the gene expression of animals and plants, and the discrimination of plant sterols against cholesterol in human food resources.
In the research on feeding applications, it was found that plant sterols can stimulate appetite and form plant hormones in water, namely plant sterol-ribonucleoprotein complexes. This complex can increase the stability of the original plant hormones to the ambient temperature (including the animal's body temperature after entering the body) and the decomposition in the animal body, promote the synthesis of animal protein, and benefit the health and growth of animals.
Applications of LowChol™ Phytosterol Esters
Phytosterols are insoluble in water, and their solubility in oil is also quite limited, which greatly limits their application. Esterification of phytosterols into phytosterol esters is one of the important modification methods. The fat solubility of phytosterols is improved. The absorption rate of esterified phytosterol esters is higher than that of phytosterols, and it has a more significant cholesterol-lowering effect.
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