A Softgel Dietary Supplement Containing Esterified Plant Sterols and Stanols Improves the Blood Lipid Profile of Adults with Primary Hypercholesterolemia: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Replication Study

Phytosterol supplementation in capsules or tablets as adjunctive treatment for hypercholesterolemia: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials

BACKGROUND

The exploration of lipid-lowering resources, such as phytosterols, for the complementary nutritional treatment of hypercholesterolemia is relevant to reduce cardiovascular risk. The use of phytosterols in capsules or tablets can bring advantages in the context of diet therapy, but such format is still less studied when compared to fortified foods.

OBJECTIVE

Systematically review randomized clinical trials on the effects of phytosterol supplementation, in capsules or tablets, on the lipid profile and its use in the treatment of hypercholesterolemia in adults.

DESIGN

A systematic review was carried out in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis, with a PROSPERO protocol registered under number CRD42021249539. The process was conducted by two independent reviewers. Only randomized clinical trials with phytosterol supplementation in adult individuals with hypercholesterolemia were included. The terms were searched in the databases: PubMed/MEDLINE, Cochrane Library/CENTRAL, Embase, LILACS and Web of Science, without restriction of time and language. The manual search was also performed through the list of references of articles included in this review.

RESULTS

The searches resulted in 977 articles. 22 articles were selected, whose full text was read, and according to the eligibility criteria 10 were incorporated into the review. The studies were separated into groups according to the association of the intervention with changes in lifestyle and the characteristics extracted from the studies were summarized and displayed in tables. Most studies have revealed a positive association between phytosterol supplementation and cholesterol reduction, despite the short duration of interventions.

CONCLUSION

The analyzed studies showed that phytosterol supplements can be useful to modulate the lipid profile, helping to reduce the plasma concentration of LDL cholesterol. However, more research with the aforementioned supplementation in such pharmaceutical formats should be encouraged.

Effects of phytosterol supplementation on lipid profiles in patients with hypercholesterolemia: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Phytosterols (PSs) have been reported to improve blood lipids in patients with hypercholesterolemia for many years. However, meta-analyses of the effects of phytosterols on lipid profiles are limited and incomplete. A systematic search of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published in PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science from inception to March 2022 was conducted according to the 2020 preferred reporting items of the guidelines for systematic reviews and meta-analysis (PRISMA) statement. These included studies of people with hypercholesterolemia, comparing foods or preparations containing PSs with controls. Mean differences with 95% confidence intervals were used to estimate continuous outcomes for individual studies. The results showed that in patients with hypercholesterolemia, taking a diet containing a certain dose of plant sterol significantly reduced total cholesterol (TC) and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) (TC: Weight Mean Difference (WMD) [95% CI] = -0.37 [-0.41, -0.34], p < 0.001; LDL-C: WMD [95% CI] = -0.34 [-0.37, -0.30], p < 0.001). In contrast, PSs had no effect on high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) or triglycerides (TGs) (HDL-C: WMD [95% CI] = 0.00 [-0.01, 0.02], p = 0.742; TG: WMD [95% CI] = -0.01 [-0.04, 0.01], p = 0.233). Also, a significant effect of supplemental dose on LDL-C levels was observed in a nonlinear dose-response analysis (p-nonlinearity = 0.024). Our findings suggest that dietary phytosterols can help reduce TC and LDL-C concentrations in hypercholesterolemia patients without affecting HDL-C and TG concentrations. And the effect may be affected by the food substrate, dose, esterification, intervention cycle and region. The dose of phytosterol is an important factor affecting the level of LDL-C.

Biological and pharmacological effects and nutritional impact of phytosterols: A comprehensive review

Phytosterols (PSs), classified into plant sterols and stanols, are bioactive compounds found in foods of plant origin. PSs have been proposed to exert a wide number of pharmacological properties, including the potential to reduce total and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels and thereby decreasing the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Other health-promoting effects of PSs include anti-obesity, anti-diabetic, anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory effects. Also, anticancer effects have been strongly suggested, as phytosterol-rich diets may reduce the risk of cancer by 20%. The aim of this review is to provide a general overview of the available evidence regarding the beneficial physiological and pharmacological activities of PSs, with special emphasis on their therapeutic potential for human health and safety. Also, we will explore the factors that influence the physiologic response to PSs.

Effect of phytosterol capsule supplementation associated with the National Cholesterol Education Program Step 2 diet on low-density lipoprotein in children and adolescents with dyslipidemia: A double-blind crossover trial

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the effect of phytosterol capsule supplementation associated with the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) Step 2 diet on LDL-C levels in children and adolescents with dyslipidemia.

METHODS

This is a randomized, double-blind, crossover trial conducted with children and adolescents (n = 31; mean ± SD, age 9.0 ± 2.22 years, BMI zscore 1.65 ± 1.47 kg/m²) with dyslipidemia. After a run-in period, the participants were randomly allocated to control or intervention groups. The intervention group received capsules containing 1.5 g/day of phytosterols, and the control group received capsules containing 2 g/day of sunflower oil for 8 weeks. Patients in both groups were instructed to follow the NCEP Step 2 diet during the study. The primary outcome was LDL-C and secondary outcomes were total cholesterol (TC), HDL-C, triglyceride, insulin, blood pressure, and anthropometric measures. Intention-to-treat analyses were performed using the proc mixed procedure in SAS.

RESULTS

The rate of change for LDL-C was not different between intervention and control groups (p=0.30). No significant reduction was also observed for TC (p=0.47), HDL-C (p=0.97), insulin (p=0.27), triglycerides (p=0.38), systolic blood pressure (p=0.11), and diastolic blood pressure (p=0.57) compared to control group. Although we observed a high adherence to the capsule intake (95.7% in phytosterol and 93.8% in the control group), the low adherence to the diet may have contributed to explaining the results.

CONCLUSION

Daily phytosterol capsules supplementation associated with the NCEP Step 2 diet did not reduce LDL-cholesterol concentrations in children and adolescents with dyslipidemia.

Recent progress in the use of functional foods for older adults: A narrative review

The number and proportion of older adults are increasing globally, and it is predicted that in 2020, there will be 723 million people worldwide aged 66 and older. In recent decades, numerous studies showed that healthy eating is positively associated with better nutritional status and quality of life, and the decreased incidence of noncommunicable diseases. As older adults become health conscious, the demand for foods and beverages rich in nutrients and bioactive compounds has increased. The increased demand for healthy food stimulated a recent rapid increase in designing, producing, and marketing functional foods to prevent or correct nutrient deficiencies and to improve the nutritional status of older adults. These functional products contain and/or are enriched with dietary fiber; omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids; phytoestrogens; polyphenols; carotenoids such as alpha- and beta-carotene; lutein and zeaxanthin; pre-, pro-, and synbiotics; and plant sterols and stanols. A limited number of publications have thoroughly addressed the effect of functional foods on the nutritional status of older adults. The goal of this review was to review existing recent research on the role of functional foods in healthy and active aging.

Phytosterol Supplementation Could Improve Atherogenic and Anti-Atherogenic Apolipoproteins: A Systematic Review and Dose-Response Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Phytosterol and phytostanol (PS) supplementation is reported to improve atherogenic and anti-atherogenic apolipoproteins (Apo). The purpose of the present study is to critically investigate the effectiveness of PS supplementation on Apo in adults.A comprehensive search was conducted of all randomized controlled trials (RCTs) conducted up to September 2018 in the following databases: PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and Scopus. Mean difference with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were pooled using a random-effects model (DerSimonian-Laird method).Fifty-one arms from 37 RCTs were included in the present meta-analysis. Findings showed that PS supplementation and fortification increased Apo-AI (weighted mean difference [WMD]: 0.014 mg/dl, 95% CI: 0.001, 0.028, p = 0.042) and Apo-CII (WMD: 0.303 mg/dl, 95% CI: 0.084, 0.523, p = 0.007) and lowered Apo-B (WMD: -0.063 mg/dl, 95% CI: -0.075, -0.051, p < 0.001), Apo-B/Apo-A-I ratio (WMD: -0.044 mg/dl, 95% CI: -0.062, -0.025, p < 0.001), and Apo-E (WMD: -0.255 mg/dl, 95% CI: -0.474, -0.036, p = 0.023). However, PS supplementation did not have significant effects on Apo-AII and Apo-CIII. PS supplementation or fortification significantly changes Apo-E (r = -0.137, p nonlinearity = 0.006) and Apo-CIII (r = 1.26, p nonlinearity = 0.028) based on PS dosage (mg/d) and Apo-CIII (r = 3.34, p nonlinearity = 0.013) and Apo-CII (r = 1.09, p nonlinearity = 0.017) based on trial duration (weeks) in a nonlinear fashion.Based on our findings, supplements or fortified foods containing PS might have a considerable favorite effect in achieving Apo profile target; however, due to high heterogeneity among included studies, results must be interpreted with caution.KEY TEACHING POINTSCardiovascular diseases (CVDs) recognized as main public health concern worldwide with considerable mortality of all global deaths.Apo-lipoproteins are amphipathic molecules involved in the lipoprotein metabolism which introduced as biomarkers in the evaluation of CVD risk.Phytosterols bioactive components of plants have important biological functions in cholesterol metabolism in humans.Here we showed that phytosterols and phytostanols improve apo-lipoproteins profile of humans; finding from meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Phytosterols supplementation lowered atherogenic apo-lipoproteins (Apo-B and Apo-E) and increased anti-atherogenic apo-lipoproteins (Apo-AI, Apo-CII).

Phytosterols in the Treatment of Hypercholesterolemia and Prevention of Cardiovascular Diseases

Phytosterols are bioactive compounds found in foods of plant origin, which can be divided into plant sterols and plant stanols. Clinical studies consistently indicate that the intake of phytosterols (2 g/day) is associated with a significant reduction (8-10%) in levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-cholesterol). Thus, several guidelines recommend the intake of 2 g/day of plant sterols and/or stanols in order to reduce LDL-cholesterol levels. As the typical western diet contains only about 300 mg/day of phytosterols, foods enriched with phytosterols are usually used to achieve the recommended intake. Although phytosterols decrease LDL-cholesterol levels, there is no evidence that they reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases; on the contrary, some studies suggest an increased risk of atherosclerosis with increasing serum levels of phytosterols. This review aims to address the evidence available in the literature on the relationship between phytosterols and risk of cardiovascular disease.