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Lipids and cardiovascular/metabolic health

Acute effects of plant stanol esters on postprandial metabolism and its relation with changes in serum lipids after chronic intake

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 69, pages 127–133 (2015)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background/objectives:

Plant stanol esters lower serum low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol (LDL-C), but responses between individuals vary widely. As the ability of subjects to respond to acute dietary challenges may reflect the flexibility to adapt to changes on the longer term, we related subjects' acute postprandial metabolic changes to changes in serum lipoproteins after chronic intake of plant stanol esters.

Subjects/methods:

In a double-blind crossover design, 20 healthy subjects received in random order a high-fat shake enriched with or without plant stanol esters (4 g). Blood samples were taken during 4 h to examine lipid, glucose and lipoprotein profiles. Two subjects dropped out. For the 3 weeks after this postprandial test, the subjects who received the shake with plant stanol esters continued the consumption of plant stanol-enriched (3g/day) margarine and subjects receiving the control shake in the postprandial test consumed for the next 3 weeks a control margarine. After the washout period, subjects received the other shake and margarines.

Results:

The margarine enriched with plant stanol esters lowered concentrations of total cholesterol by 7.3% (P<0.01), LDL-C by 9.5% (P<0.01) and apoB100 by 8.6% (P<0.01). Furthermore, particle concentrations of total very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL), small VLDL and large LDL were reduced by 26.6% (P=0.02), 27.6% (P=0.02) and 12.3% (P=0.04), respectively. Plant stanol esters did not affect parameters related to lipid and glucose metabolism during the postprandial phase. However, the incremental area under the curve (iAUC) of the postprandial glucose concentration after consuming the control shake correlated positively with changes in fasting concentrations of total cholesterol, LDL-C, apoB100, total VLDL, small VLDL and intermediate-density lipoprotein after 3 weeks.

Conclusions:

A single dose of plant stanol esters does not change postprandial lipid and lipoprotein profiles. However, postprandial glucose responses may predict the effects of chronic plant stanol ester consumption.

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Acknowledgements

We thank all study participants for their cooperation and enthusiasm. We also thank the technical and dietary staff from our department for their support. We thank Anja Kerksiek for the analysis of the plant sterols, stanols and cholesterol precursors. ED, RPM and JP designed the research; ED conducted the research; ED, RPM and JP analyzed the data; ED, RPM Dl and JP wrote the paper; and JP had primary responsibility for final content. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. The study was financially supported by Raisio, Finland.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Human Biology, NUTRIM School for Nutrition, Toxicology and Metabolism, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands,

    E De Smet, R P Mensink & J Plat

  2. Institute of Clinical Chemistry and Clinical Pharmacology, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany

    D Lütjohann

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  1. E De Smet
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  2. R P Mensink
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Correspondence to J Plat.

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De Smet, E., Mensink, R., Lütjohann, D. et al. Acute effects of plant stanol esters on postprandial metabolism and its relation with changes in serum lipids after chronic intake. Eur J Clin Nutr 69, 127–133 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2014.200

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