Elsevier

Atherosclerosis

Volume 61, Issue 3, September 1986, Pages 219-223
Atherosclerosis

Research paper
Effect of low-dose sitostanol on serum cholesterol in patients with hypercholesterolemia

https://doi.org/10.1016/0021-9150(86)90141-3Get rights and content

Abstract

Sitostanol (24-ethyl-5α-cholestan-3β-ol), a hydrogenated derivative of sitosterol, was administered in a low dose (1.5 g/day) for 4 weeks to 6 patients with hypercholesterolemia. Total cholesterol was reduced significantly after 3 and 4 weeks by 10 and 15%, respectively. The reduction of total cholesterol was entirely due to a fall in LDL cholesterol. Total triglycerides and HDL cholesterol were not altered. Two weeks after cessation of sitostanol administration serum cholesterol returned to pretreatment levels. No significant amounts of sitostanol could be detected in plasma during therapy. These results suggest that low-dose sitostanol might be a useful hypolipidemic agent for the treatment of mild hypercholesterolemia.

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    This work was supported in part by the Sandoz Stiftung für therapeutische Forschung and Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Le 385/3-1).

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