Differential membrane properties of liposome by plant sterols and cholesterol

As a membrane structure modifier, cholesterol has been studied widely.The plant sterols have similar structure with cholesterol, and it is clearly demonstrated that plant sterols can reduce the rate of intestinal cholesterol absorption.The replacement of cholesterol by plant sterols not only modulates membrane structure, but also prevents the negative effect of cholesterol.The aim of this work was to compare the influence of both plant sterols and cholesterol by comparing the particle size, antioxidant, micro-polarity, fluidity of bilayer.It was found that cholesterol played a stronger regulatory role in the liposome membrane fluidity, but the addition of β-sitosterol and soybean phytosterols more strongly influenced the membrane stability.However, stigmasterol could not participate in the effective control of membrane.Taken together, the cholesterol could be replaced by β-sitosterol or soybean phytosterols.