Quantitative study of local distribution of noncholesterol sterols and cholesterol in gallstones.

Quantitative analysis of the local distribution of four noncholesterol sterols, 24-methylene cholesterol, campesterol, stigmasterol, and beta-sitosterol, and of the local distribution of cholesterol in gallstones was performed by mass spectrometry, with D6-cholesterol as an internal standard. The role played by trace amounts of these four noncholesterol sterols in the formation of gallstones was investigated by comparing the amounts of these sterols in different parts of gallstones. It was found that the amounts of the noncholesterol sterols in the inside part were significant greater than the amounts in the outside part of various structural types of gallstones. However, the distribution of the cholesterol did not show such variation. The amounts of noncholesterol sterols distributed locally suggested that these sterols play a role in the formation of gallstones.