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Sterols and related compounds play essential roles in the physiology of eukaryotic organisms, and are essential for normal physiology of plants, animals, and fungi. [4] For example, cholesterol forms part of the cellular membrane in animals, where it affects the cell membrane's fluidity and serves as secondary messenger in developmental signaling.
Cholesterol is the principal sterol of all higher animals, distributed in body tissues, especially the brain and spinal cord, and in animal fats and oils. [3] [4]Cholesterol is biosynthesized by all animal cells [citation needed] and is an essential structural and signaling component of animal cell membranes.
Other examples of sterols are the bile acids and their conjugates, [44] which in mammals are oxidized derivatives of cholesterol and are synthesized in the liver. The plant equivalents are the phytosterols , such as β-sitosterol , stigmasterol , and brassicasterol ; the latter compound is also used as a biomarker for algal growth. [ 45 ]
The debate regarding sterol vs. stanol safety is centered on their differing intestinal absorption and resulting plasma concentrations. Phytostanols have a lower estimated intestinal absorption rate (0.02 - 0.3%) than phytosterols (0.4 - 5%) and consequently blood phytostanol concentration is generally lower than phytosterol concentration.
Sterols have a hydrophobic four-membered fused ring rigid structure, and a small polar head group. Cholesterol is bio-synthesised from mevalonate via a squalene cyclisation of terpenoids . Cell membranes require high levels of cholesterol – typically an average of 20% cholesterol in the whole membrane, increasing locally in raft areas up to ...
Ergosterol (ergosta-5,7,22-trien-3β-ol) is a sterol found in fungi, and named after ergot, the common name of members of the fungal genus Claviceps from which ergosterol was first isolated. Ergosterol is a component of yeast and other fungal cell membranes , serving many of the same functions that cholesterol serves in animal cells. [ 1 ]
This is an accepted version of this page This is the latest accepted revision, reviewed on 12 February 2025. Polycyclic organic compound having sterane as a core structure This article is about the family of polycyclic compounds. For the drugs, also used as performance-enhancing substances, see Anabolic steroid. For the scientific journal, see Steroids (journal). For the Death Grips EP, see ...
The molecular mechanisms regulating the absorption of dietary sterols in the body are poorly understood, and as sitosterolemia is a rare autosomal recessively inherited lipid metabolic disorder characterized by hyperabsorption and decreased biliary excretion of dietary sterols, studies have focused on the molecular basis of sitosterolemia to shed light on important principles concerning ...