The goal of this clinical trial was to evaluate the effects of phytosterol supplementation to the diet on lipids, LDL and HDL subfractions, and on the quality of LDL in apparently healthy subjects.

The main questions it aims to answer are:

• do phytosterols reduce LDL-cholesterol and modify LDL and HDL subfractions?
• do phytosterols modify the quality of LDL?

Participants were aleatory selected to diet alone (D) or diet plus phytosterols (DP, 2.6 g divided in two doses, with meals) for 12 weeks, followed by a 7-day washout period, where treatments were switched for another 12-weeks.

Military police from the ROTA (Rondas Ostensivas Tobias de Aguiar, N=60), with hypercholesterolemia in primary prevention were recruited. Of those, 27 did not meet entry criteria, 10 were excluded for not following the protocol. Twenty-three individuals were aleatory selected to diet alone (D) or diet plus phytosterols (DP, 2.6 g divided in two doses, with meals) for 12 weeks (w), followed by a 7-day washout period, where treatments were switched for another 12-w.

Study was prospective, randomized, open label, cross-over, with parallel arms and blinded endpoints.

Anthropometry, food consumption and laboratory parameters were evaluated every 12-w.

HDL and LDL subfractions were analyzed by the electrophoresis system in polyacrylamide gel (Lipoprint System®).

Plasma LDL was separated by ultracentrifugation and the quality of the LDL analyzed by nonlinear optical response (Z-scan and UV-vis spectroscopy techniques).

Inclusion Criteria:

• participants of both sexes, aged >18 and <65 years, literate, in primary prevention of cardiovascular disease, with LDL-c ≥130mg/dL and <190 mg/dL and triglycerides <400 mg/dL.

Exclusion Criteria:

• secondary causes of dyslipidemia, renal (creatinine > 2mg/dL), hepatic (AST or ALT > 1.5 ULN), or metabolic (HbA1c >8.0%) dysfunction, with BMI <18.5 or >40 Kg/m2, recent surgery, disabsortive syndrome, malignancies, under lipid-lowering therapy, unable or unwilling to participate, or with less than 80% adherence to phytosterols

IPD will be shared upon request.

After publication, and for one year.

Upon request