Genomic Influence in the Prevention of Cardiovascular Diseases with a Sterol-Based Treatment.

Raised serum cholesterol concentration is a well-established risk factor in cardiovascular disease. In addition, genetic load may have an indirect influence on cardiovascular risk. Plant-based sterol-supplemented foods are recommended to help reduce the serum low-density lipoprotein cholesterol level. The objective was to analyse the influence of different polymorphisms in hypercholesterolemia patients following a dietary treatment with plant sterols. A randomised double-blind cross-over controlled clinical trial was carried out in 45 people (25 women). Commercial milk, containing 2.24 g of sterols, was ingested daily during a 3-week period, and then the same amount of skim milk, without sterols, was consumed daily during the 3-week placebo phase. Both phases were separated by a washout period of 2 weeks. At the beginning and end of each phase, blood draws were performed. Genes and are Ser19Trp carriers and greatly benefit from sterol intake in the diet. TT homozygous carriers had lower low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c) levels than CC homozygote and CT heterozygote carriers after the ingestion of plant sterols ( = 0.001). These two genes also showed statistically significant changes in total cholesterol levels ( = 0.025; = 0.005), and no significant changes in high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels ( = 0.032; = 0.003), respectively. No statistically significant differences were observed for other genes. Further studies are needed to establish which genotype combinations would be the most protective against hypercholesterolemia.