Identification of plant sterols in plasma and red blood cells of man and experimental animals.

Direct gas liquid chromatography (GLC) of total plasma lipids showed small peaks (0.5-1.5% of total free sterol area) corresponding to free C28 and C29 sterols in ca. 50% of some 3,000 normal subjects and patients with hyperlipemia. Comparable proportions of similar peaks were present in the sterol fraction isolated from the red blood cells of many of these subjects. The maximum levels of these components in the plasma and red blood cells of domestic and laboratory animals were up to 10 times higher than those seen in man. Detailed gas chromatography/mass spectrometry analyses of the plasma lipids from a much more limited number of subjects and animals showed that the GLC peaks corresponding to the free C28 and C29 sterols were largely due to the plant sterols campesterol, stigmasterol, and beta-sitosterol. In all instances, variable amounts (0.05-0.2% of the total free sterol area) of 7-dehydrocholesterol, desmosterol, lanosterol, and cholesterol alpha-oxide were also detected. While the total content and composition of the plasma plant sterols appeared to vary greatly among the subjects, it never exceeded 2% of total sterol in the normal subjects and patients examined. There was no evidence for a significant increase in the plant sterol content of the plasma of patients with hypercholesterolemia or hypertriglyceridemia.