Clinical improvement, toxicity and future prospects of β-sitosterol: a review

Figures & data

Table 1. Different sources of β-sitosterol.

Sources	Extraction method	Compounds extracted	References
Wheat Barley, rye Rice grain	GC-MS (gas chromatography with spectrophotometer	Campesterol, stigmasterol, sitosterol, sitostanol, Δ5-avenasterol	Piironen et al. (2002)
Rice bran, Soya bean, Flaxseeds (oil samples)	Saponification followed by GC/MS analysis of plant sterols	All major plant sterols present with β-sitosterol highest, (ergosterol not detected in flaxseeds)	Yang et al. (2019)
Olive oil	Gas chromatography	Rich in α, β, γ-tocopherols, β-sitosterol, D5-avenasterol, & oleic acid	Lima and Block (2019)
Pumpkin seeds	Acid hydrolysis & lipid extraction followed by alkaline saponification and HPLC analysis	Major compounds extracted were β-sitosterol, stigmasterol & squalene	Ryan et al. (2007)
Fruits
Oranges, peach, tangerines	GLC (gas liquid chromatography)	All (β-sitosterol, campesterol, stigmasterol, β-sitostanol) present except campestanol	Jun-Hua et al. (2008)
Apple and pear leaves	Saponification and GC/MS analysis of leaves extract, HPLC analysis of β-sitosterol	Phytols, squalene and β-sitosterol present in both apple and pear leaves	Hammam et al. (2023)

Table 2. The sources, study level, disease prevention and importance of β-sitosterol.

Sources	Product	Invivo/invitro study	Disease	Major finding	Reference
Nuts, seed, legumes and olive	Oil	In-vitro and in-vivo	Analgesic, immunomodulatory, antimicrobial, anticancer, anti – inflammatory, hepatoprotective, respiratory diseases and anti-diabetic activities	The major finding of experimental studies showed that the potential phytosterol can be used as supplements to fight against chronic diseases	Babu and Jayaraman (2020)
Plant	–	–	Cardiovascular protection, inhibits tumor growth and modulates immune response	The finding showed that β-sitosterol could be a potential chemo preventive against of various types of cancers	Patel et al. (2017)
Vegetable	Diet	–	Cardioprotective	The results extend existing data regarding the cardioprotective effect of β-sitosterol and provides new insights into understanding the molecular mechanism underlying the beneficial effect of β-sitosterol on endothelial function.	Loizou et al. (2010)
Tall oil	Powder	In vitro	Cancer treatment	The results found that hytosterols (PS) as func-tional ingredients in the development of PS-enriched foods could exert a potential preventiveeffect against human breast, colon and cervical cancer	Alvarez-Sala et al. (2019)
Tablet	β-sitosterol self-emulsion	In vivo	Hyperlipidemia	The finding verified that β-sitosterol self-microemulsion can lower blood lipid.	Yuan et al. (2019)
Crystalline β-sitosterol	Oleogels	–	Cholesterol-lowering properties	β-sitosterol based oleogels are a good replacement of oils. It can be used as a fat replacer and have cholesterol lowering properties.	J. Li et al. (2021)
Plant	–	–	Anticancer, hepatoprotective, antioxidant, cardioprotective, and antidiabetic	Different studies showed that β-sitosterol interferes with multiple cell signaling pathways	Z. Khan et al. (2022)
Plant	–	In vivo and In vitro	Alzheimer’s Disease	The results showed that beta-sitosterol can lessen plaque burden and also enhance spatial learning in patients suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease.	Mishra et al. (2024)
Plant	–	In vivo	Ischemic stroke	The results verified that β-sitosterol may help treat ischemic stroke by inhibiting neuronal intracellular cholesterol overload/endoplasmic reticulum stress/apoptosis signaling pathways.	Tang et al. (2024)
Plant	–	In vivo	Diabetic ulcer wounds	The findings evaluated that the healing effects of β-sitosterol on diabetic ulcer wounds in rats.	Liu et al. (2024)
Plant and animal	Superfood	–	Cancer	The major findings of this review provide future investigations and highlights the need for further research on β-sitosterol as a potent superfood in combating cancer.	Nandi et al. (2023)
Vegetable oils and nuts	Oil	–	Cancers	β-Sitosterol shows promising potential as a therapeutic candidate for inhibiting HCC growth and metastasis through FOXM1 downregulation and Wnt/β-catenin signalling inhibition.	Y. Chen et al. (2024)
Plant	–	In vivo	Inflammatory diseases	The results showed that β-sitosterol may be useful for the treatment of various inflammatory diseases.	P. Zhang et al. (2023)

Figure 1. Effect of β-sitosterol on regulation of lipid metabolism.

Figure 2. Therapeutic potential of β-sitosterol.

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Data availability statement

The authors confirm that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article.