Plasma and dietary phytosterols in children

Plasma phytosterol (plant sterol) levels were studied in 26 infants on various commercial formulas, in 36 infants on breast or cow's milk formulas, in 101 normal and 22 hypercholesterolemic children on a free diet, and in 32 hypercholesterolemic children on a low-cholesterol diet. Commercial formulas, poor in animal fats and enriched with vegetable oils, and low-cholesterol, phytosterol-rich diets generally elevated total plasma phytosterol levels in infants and hypercholesterolemic children from normal mean levels of 2 mg/100 ml to about 9 mg/100 ml. The implications of long-term three- to five-fold elevations of the plasma phytosterols (campesterol, stigmasterol, beta-sitosterol) in infancy and childhood are unknown. Watchful prospective analysis of plasma phytosterol levels may be useful, particularly in regards to otherwise unanticipated long-term effects of cholesterol-poor, phytosterol rich diets.