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Faecal varieties between high- and low-converters of cholesterol

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 64, pages 227–229 (2010)Cite this article

Abstract

Background:

Analyzing faecal sterol concentrations in humans, subjects with a strongly decreased faecal cholesterol conversion were identified. The reasons and outcomes of this phenomenon have not been sufficiently investigated because of the complexity of the host–microflora interactions.

Subjects/Methods:

To evaluate differences between cholesterol high and low converters, the sterol excretion and faeces attributes of 320 healthy subjects (213 women, 107 men) were analyzed. Two different cut-off levels classifying cholesterol high and low converters were tested (level 1: conversion rate <30%; level 2: 50th percentile).

Results:

In both test models the faeces attributes differ significantly in a lower pH value and a lower faecal dry matter of the low converters in comparison with the high converters.

Conclusions:

These findings in faeces may reflect the conditions in the colon and can be a reason for the decreased bacterial growth and/or activity of cholesterol-reducing bacteria in the colonic microflora.

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Acknowledgements

I thank the staff of the Department of Nutritional Physiology for the excellent support in data gathering.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nutritional Physiology, Institute of Nutrition, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany

    S Keller

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  1. S Keller
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Correspondence to S Keller.

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Keller, S. Faecal varieties between high- and low-converters of cholesterol. Eur J Clin Nutr 64, 227–229 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2009.118

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2009.118

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