Comparison of the immunomodulatory effects of the plant sterol β-sitosterol to simvastatin in peripheral blood cells from multiple sclerosis patients

Immunomodulatory properties of Beta-sitosterol in pig immune responses

“…Recently, Desai et al [24] also described that BSS has an effect on proliferation of PBMCs in humans. This result could have multiple interpretations that are far from the scope of this paper, but the importance of decreasing cell death and/or inducing a certain degree of responsiveness might have a major impact on any immune response against an encountered pathogen.…”

Phytosterols ameliorate clinical manifestations and inflammation in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis

“…Furthermore, using IHC techniques, we were able to demonstrate that there were fewer macrophages infiltrated in PS-treated mouse brains compared to controls. One potential reason for the decrease in macrophages may be due to the effectiveness of PS in reducing inflammation [18,24]. Another explanation is that PS are structurally similar to cholesterol, and thus can be incorporated into cellular membranes, which results in alteration of membrane fluidity [32].…”

“…Consuming diets high in PS content has been shown to lower plasma cholesterol levels by acting as competitive inhibitors to the absorption of dietary cholesterol [22,23]. More recently, PS have been reported to have additional biological activities including immunomodulatory properties [24,25]. Macrophages derived from MS patients (stimulated with lipopolysaccharide [LPS]) resulted in a decrease in pro-inflammatory cytokine activity and increases in Th2-derived IL-10 when pretreated with b-sitosterol [24].…”

“…More recently, PS have been reported to have additional biological activities including immunomodulatory properties [24,25]. Macrophages derived from MS patients (stimulated with lipopolysaccharide [LPS]) resulted in a decrease in pro-inflammatory cytokine activity and increases in Th2-derived IL-10 when pretreated with b-sitosterol [24]. While the evidence supporting the role of PS as anti-inflammatory molecules has been demonstrated, the exact mechanism by which this activity occurs remains unclear.…”

Fitoesteróides reduzem endotelina-1 em indivíduos moderadamente hipercolesterolêmicos

“…Entende-se este processo não apenas como decorrência do acúmulo de lípides na parede dos vasos, mas uma conseqüência da disfunção endotelial e da ativação do sistema inflamatório Recentemente foi sugerida a ação imunomoduladora dos fitoesteróis tanto "in vitro" (Aherne e O´Brien, 2008) como "in vivo" (Calpe-Berdiel et al, 2007;Acuff et al, 2007;Desai et al, 2009), com a sua eficácia variando em função do tipo de indivíduo estudado. Observou-se, diminuição da secreção de citocinas próinflamatórias pelas células mononucleares periféricas, como a IL-12 e TNF-alfa em indivíduos com esclerose múltipla, bem como aumento da IL-10, citocina antiinflamatória, observada apenas em normais com o consumo de FE (Desai et al, 2009). …”