Phytosterol Supplementation and Lipoprotein Subfractions

Military police from the ROTA (Rondas Ostensivas Tobias de Aguiar, N=60), with hypercholesterolemia in primary prevention were recruited. Of those, 27 did not meet entry criteria, 10 were excluded for not following the protocol. Twenty-three individuals were aleatory selected to diet alone (D) or diet plus phytosterols (DP, 2.6 g divided in two doses, with meals) for 12 weeks (w), followed by a 7-day washout period, where treatments were switched for another 12-w.

Study was prospective, randomized, open label, cross-over, with parallel arms and blinded endpoints.

Anthropometry, food consumption and laboratory parameters were evaluated every 12-w.

HDL and LDL subfractions were analyzed by the electrophoresis system in polyacrylamide gel (Lipoprint System®).

Plasma LDL was separated by ultracentrifugation and the quality of the LDL analyzed by nonlinear optical response (Z-scan and UV-vis spectroscopy techniques).

Inclusion criteria

• participants of both sexes, aged >18 and <65 years, literate, in primary prevention of cardiovascular disease, with LDL-c ≥130mg/dL and <190 mg/dL and triglycerides <400 mg/dL.

Exclusion criteria

• secondary causes of dyslipidemia, renal (creatinine > 2mg/dL), hepatic (AST or ALT > 1.5 ULN), or metabolic (HbA1c >8.0%) dysfunction, with BMI <18.5 or >40 Kg/m2, recent surgery, disabsortive syndrome, malignancies, under lipid-lowering therapy, unable or unwilling to participate, or with less than 80% adherence to phytosterols