Dietary supplementation of soybean-derived sterols regulates cholesterol metabolism and intestinal microbiota in hamsters

This study explored the of plant sterol-modulated cholesterol metabolism. Hamsters (n = 45) were divided into the control group, high-fat diet (HFD) group, and three treatment groups fed HFD supplemented with various soybean sterols (SS; 0.1%, 0.5% and 1%) concentrations; they were weighed weekly and sacrificed at 6 weeks. Serum lipids and liver cholesterol were determined. Fecal sterol amounts were assessed (gas chromatography/mass spectrometry). The liver and intestine mRNA levels of cholesterol absorption/sterol excretion associated genes (SREBP2, HMG-CoA-R, CYP7A1, LDL-R, NPC1L1, ABCG5, ABCG8, ACAT2, and MTP) were assessed by qRT-PCR. Intestinal microbiota was characterized by gene sequencing. Fecal amounts of neutral/acid sterols were increased by SS upon HFD feeding. Consistently, dietary SS generally upregulated cholesterol absorption/sterol excretion associated genes, including LDL-R, NPC1L1, ABCG5 and ABCG8. Furthermore, SS noticeably altered the gut microbiota. Overall, dietary SS as some impact on cholesterol metabolism and sterol excretion, possibly by altering specific genes and the gut microbiota.