Plant Sterols/Stanols: Do they have a Role in Current Cardiovascular Disease Prevention?

Theodosios D. Filippatos; Moses S. Elisaf

doi:10.6000/1929-5634.2015.04.01.1

Authors

Theodosios D. Filippatos Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece
Moses S. Elisaf Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.6000/1929-5634.2015.04.01.1

Keywords:

Plant sterols, plant stanols, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, atherosclerosis, cardiovascular disease.

Abstract

Plant sterols/stanols inhibit cholesterol absorption in the gastrointestinal tract. The daily consumption of 2 g/day of plant sterols/stanols decreases low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels by approximately 10%. Plant sterols/stanols also reduce LDL-C levels when co-administered with statins, a fact useful for patients intolerable to high-dose statins. However, no randomized, controlled clinical trials have examined the clinical benefit of daily consumption of plant sterols/stanols. Furthermore, concerns regarding a possible atherogenic effect of plant sterols have been expressed. The use of plant sterols/stanols-enriched foods is a useful adjunct for hypercholesterolemic patients to achieve their LDL-C target, but we need more data to establish if this hypolipidemic effect results to reduced cardiovascular risk.

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