Stearate-enriched plant sterol esters lower serum LDL cholesterol concentration in normo- and hypercholesterolemic adults.

Studies in our laboratory have previously demonstrated in hamsters a superior cholesterol-lowering ability of plant sterol (PS) esters enriched in stearate compared with linoleate. We therefore conducted a randomized, double-blind, 2-group parallel, placebo-controlled study to test the cholesterol-lowering properties of stearate-enriched PS esters in normo- and hypercholesterolemic adults. Thirty-two adults, 16 per group with equal number of males and females in each group, participated in the 4-wk study. Participants consumed 3 g/d (1 g three times per day with meals) of either PS esters or placebo delivered in capsules. Serum LDL cholesterol concentration significantly decreased 0.42 mmol/L (11%) and the LDL:HDL cholesterol ratio decreased 10% with PS ester supplementation, whereas LDL particle size and lipoprotein subclass particle concentrations (as measured by NMR) were not affected. The percent change in LDL cholesterol was positively correlated with baseline lathosterol concentration (r = 0.729; P = 0.0014), indicating an association between the magnitude of LDL change and the rate of whole-body cholesterol synthesis. Serum campesterol (but not sitosterol) concentration significantly increased in the PS ester group. Serum tocopherol, retinol, and beta-carotene concentrations were not affected by PS ester supplementation. Thus, our findings demonstrate the usefulness of a novel stearate-enriched PS ester compound in decreasing LDL cholesterol in both normo- and hypercholesterolemic adults. The extent to which PS ester fatty acid composition affects intestinal micelle formation and cholesterol absorption in humans requires further study.

Origin of lead in the United States diet.

We report 208Pb/207Pb and 206Pb/207Pb ratios for 1001 duplicate diets collected from mothers and children, 1304 samples of house dust and hand wipes, and 64 samples of aerosols that were taken in Omaha, Nebraska, during the period from 1990 to 1997. A plot of 208Pb/207Pb versus 206Pb/ 207Pb for the dust and hand wipes indicates that they contain lead from ores mined in Idaho, Missouri, and Mexico. The absence of lead from Utah suggests that this mixture is not representative of the whole country. The lead in the aerosols has a narrower range of isotope ratios and resembles aerosols collected elsewhere in the United States. Most dietary collections contain a large component of house dust. Some, especially those from infants, are dominated by uranogenic lead with high 206Pb/207Pb ratios. Its source is taken to be calcium-supplemented food where the calcium is derived from limestone. Another source of lead is thorogenic and is ascribed to lead in tin coatings. Agricultural lead, whether from soil (estimated from recently published analyses of sedimentary materials), fertilizer, or agricultural lime, could not be unambiguously identified in the diets. Lead derived from aerosols, if present at all, is insignificant.