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European Heart Journal Advance Access originally published online on January 21, 2009
European Heart Journal 2009 30(4):404-409; doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehn580
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Published on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved. © The Author 2009. For permissions please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org
The online version of this article has been published under an open access model. Users are entitled to use, reproduce, disseminate, or display the open access version of this article for non-commercial purposes provided that the original authorship is properly and fully attributed; the Journal, Learned Society and Oxford University Press are attributed as the original place of publication with correct citation details given; if an article is subsequently reproduced or disseminated not in its entirety but only in part or as a derivative work this must be clearly indicated. For commercial re-use, please contact journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Controversial role of plant sterol esters in the management of hypercholesterolaemia

Oliver Weingärtner*, Michael Böhm and Ulrich Laufs

Klinik für Innere Medizin III, Abteilung für Kardiologie, Angiologie und internistische Intensivmedizin, Universitätsklinikum des Saarlandes, Kirrberger Strasse, Gebäude 40, 66421 Homburg/Saar, Germany

Received 8 September 2008; revised 25 November 2008; accepted 4 December 2008; online publish-ahead-of-print 21 January 2009.

* Corresponding author. Tel: +49 (0)6841 1621333, Fax: +49 (0)6841 16213369, Email: oweingartner@aol.com

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those of the Editors of the European Heart Journal or of the European Society of Cardiology.

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.


   Introduction
 
Hypercholesterolaemia is a risk factor of cardiovascular diseases and is therefore a major target for primary and secondary prevention.1,2 Maintaining a healthy diet and lifestyle reduces cardiovascular risk.3 ‘Functional foods’ supplemented with phytosterols are advertised for the management of hypercholesterolaemia and have become a widely used non-prescription approach to lower plasma cholesterol levels. It is estimated that in 2005 worldwide 3 billion US-dollars were spent on various functional foods that have regulator-approved health claims for the management of elevated cholesterol levels.4

In September 2000, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an interim final rule allowing a health claim for reducing the risk of coronary heart disease for foods that contain phytosterols and are low in saturated fat and cholesterol.5 In fact, . . . [Full Text of this Article]


   Phytosterols and cholesterol absorption
 

   Phytosterols in nutraceuticals
 

   Phytosterols and cardiovascular risk
 

   Phytosterols as adjunct to over-the-counter drugs
 

   Do current guidelines for therapeutic lifestyle changes have to be reconsidered?
 

   Summary points
 

   Funding
 

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