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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.
Trials looking at high doses (> 4 g/day) of plant sterols or stanols are very limited, and none have yet to be completed comparing the same high dose of plant sterol to plant stanol. The debate regarding sterol vs. stanol safety is centered on their differing intestinal absorption and resulting plasma concentrations.
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 ]
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 ]
Plant sterols are cholesterol-like molecules found in all plant foods, with the highest concentrations occurring in vegetable oils. Plant sterols are plant equivalents of cholesterol and have a very similar molecular structure. According to their structure, they can be divided into sterols and stanols, stanols being a saturated subgroup of sterols.
Sterol carrier proteins (also known as nonspecific lipid transfer proteins) is a family of proteins that transfer steroids and probably also phospholipids and gangliosides between cellular membranes. These proteins are different from plant nonspecific lipid transfer proteins but structurally similar to small proteins of unknown function from ...
β-Sitosterol is widely distributed in the plant kingdom.It is found in vegetable oil, nuts, avocados, and derived prepared foods such as salad dressings. [2] Olavius algarvensis, a species of marine annelid, predominantly incorporate β-sitosterol into their cell membranes instead of cholesterol, though cholesterol is also present in said membranes.