Phytosterols increase the risk of vascular diseases of the heart

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18.01.2022 12:53

Phytosterols increase the risk of vascular diseases of the heart

Atherosclerosis, a disease of the arterial vessel walls, is widespread worldwide and an increasing health problem, especially in industrialized countries. Scientists from the Medical Faculty of the University of Leipzig, in cooperation with other European study groups, have found that phytosterols have a negative impact on these and other coronary heart diseases. The results were published in the renowned journal “Nature Communications”.

Phytosterols are lipid compounds formed in plants that are ingested with food such as nuts or vegetable oils. Some of these different foods such as yoghurt or margarine are artificially added because they lower cholesterol and are supposed to have a positive effect on the organism. On the other hand, phytosterols are similar to cholesterol and can themselves be stored in vascular walls, which could lead to atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis is a build-up in the walls of medium-sized and large arteries that restricts and blocks blood flow. The relationship between phytosterols and coronary heart disease is therefore controversial in medical research.

In cooperation with other European study groups, scientists from the Faculty of Medicine have carried out a genetic association analysis of phytosterol concentrations in the blood of almost 10,000 test persons. Using a method to determine the influence of variable risk factors on diseases using genetic factors, causal relationships between phytosterols, cholesterol and coronary heart disease could be derived. “It turns out that there are both direct and indirect cholesterol-mediated negative causal effects of phytosterols on the risk of coronary heart disease. The work thus makes a significant contribution to a controversial discussion that has been going on for many years,” explains Prof. Dr. Markus Scholz from the Institute for Medical Informatics, Statistics and Epidemiology (IMISE) at the University of Leipzig and adds: “Although this does not yet result in a direct conclusion regarding the addition of phytosterols to food, high phytosterol concentrations represent a risk factor that must be taken into account should be.”

A total of seven regions in the genome associated with blood phytosterol concentrations have been identified. Five of these were new. Plausible candidate genes, i.e. genes with a biological effect on sterol metabolism, could be derived for all regions using bioinformatic analyses. “This significantly expands our understanding of the genetic regulation of phytosterol concentrations in the blood. These genes and their products and functions represent possible target sites for future drug developments,” says Prof. Dr. scholz The LIFE studies, LIFE-Adult and LIFE-Heart, as well as the sorbent study, provided the majority of the case numbers from the Leipzig side, with 4,114 blood samples. In addition, most of the phytosterol concentrations, a total of 7,042, were measured at the Institute for Laboratory Medicine under the direction of Prof. Uta Ceglarek. The biostatistical analyzes and modeling were carried out under the direction of Prof. Scholz at the Institute for Medical Informatics, Statistics and Epidemiology.

Original title of the publication in Nature Communications:

“Genome-wide meta-analysis of phytosterols reveals five novel loci and a detrimental effect on coronary atherosclerosis”, Doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-27706-6