Plant Stanols and Gene Expression Profile

Summary

Plant sterols and stanols are dietary components that are naturally present in plants. Their biological function in plants is comparable with these of cholesterol in animals. They are structurally related to cholesterol, but are absorbed by enterocytes to a much lesser extent. It is generally accepted that they inhibit intestinal cholesterol absorption and consequently lower serum low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol concentrations up to 10% at daily intakes of 2.5 g. The exact underlying mechanism of the plant sterol/stanol mediated reduction in intestinal cholesterol absorption is still unknown. It has been suggested that they lower the activity of sterol uptake transporters like Niemann-Pick C1 like 1 protein (NPC1L1) in enterocytes, otherwise several studies indicated that these compounds could activate the liver X receptor (LXR) in enterocytes, thereby activating the ABC transporters involved in the intestinal cholesterol metabolism, whereas recently suggestions have been made that plant sterols and stanols activate transintestinal cholesterol excretion (TICE). This is the direct cholesterol secretion from the blood into the intestinal lumen, in which the enterocytes play a central role. None of these assumptions have so far been evaluated in humans.

Objective: The major objective of the present study is to examine the acute effects of dietary plant stanol esters on the intestinal mucosal gene expression profiles in intestinal biopsies in healthy volunteers. The minor objective is to investigate whether semi-long-term use (3 weeks) of plant stanol esters have an effect on microbiota composition.

Conditions

• Hypercholesterolemia

Interventions

DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

control margarine

Subjects will undergo a postprandial test for 5.5 hours, in which 26.7gram of the control margarine is consumed together with a high-fat milkshake. Daily consumption of 20 gram of a control margarine (providing daily 3.0 gram of plant stanols), for a period of 3 weeks.

DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

plant stanol-enriched margarine

Subjects will undergo a postprandial test for 5.5 hours, in which 26.7gram of the plant stanol-enriched margarine is consumed together with a high-fat milkshake. Daily consumption of 20 gram of a plant stanol-enriched margarine (providing daily 3.0 gram of plant stanols), for a period of 3 weeks.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Raisio Group

  collaborator INDUSTRY

• Maastricht University Medical Center

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Jogchum Plat, Dr · Maastricht University Medical Centre

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

TRIPLE

Model

CROSSOVER

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

60 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2012-03-31

Primary Completion

2012-10-31

Completion

2012-10-31

Countries

• Netherlands

Study Locations