Cholesterol-lowering effects of plant steryl and stanyl laurate by oral administration in mice

The present study was conducted to investigate the efficacy of synthesized plant steryl and stanyl laurate in lowering the cholesterol level and to further examine the cholesterol-lowering potential of the free plant sterols and stanols dissolved in liquid emulsion on serum and liver lipids in mice by oral administration. Experimental results showed that both plant steryl and stanyl laurate could significantly decrease the serum levels of TC, LDL-C, LDL-C/HDL-C, and liver cholesterol contents and markedly increase fecal cholesterol concentrations but have no effect on serum TAG level, indicating that the produced plant steryl and stanyl laurate retained the cholesterol-lowering potential of natural plant sterols and stanols. However, no statistical difference in cholesterol-lowering efficacy was observed between plant steryl laurate and plant stanyl laurate, and free plant sterols and stanols dissolved in liquid emulsion could also significantly decrease serum cholesterol levels and markedly increase fecal cholesterol excretion. These results suggested that the esterified plant sterols/stanols had comparable effects to the free plant sterols/stanols in lowering serum TC levels but that they did gain a solubility advantage from the free plant sterols/stanols. Therefore, plant steryl/stanyl laurate could be considered as a potential nutraceutical or functional ingredient to reduce or prevent atherosclerosis and its related complications.