Selective Solubilization of Sterols by Bile Salt Micelles in Water: A Thermodynamic Study

Abstract

To study thermodynamically the so-called lowering effect of the plasma cholesterol level caused by dietary intake of phytosterols (plant sterols) or phytostanols, solubilization was investigated for the respective single systems of cholesterol (Ch), cholestanol (Chsta), and stigmasterol (Stig) and for their 1:1 mixed systems with two kinds of free bile salts (BS), sodium cholate (NaC) and sodium deoxycholate (NaDC), in pH 10 Kolthoff buffer solution at 37 °C. For the sterol/stanol solubilizates examined, compared with NaC, NaDC is stronger in solubilizing power, Sp, which is defined as the derivative of the solubilized amount, W, in mM by the total BS concentration, Ct (dW/dCt), as expected in terms of hydrophobicity and aggregation number. The following findings were made: (i) the amount solubilized by both BS micelles follows the order Ch > Chsta > Stig among the three single solubilizates; (ii) Chsta is much stronger in lowering ability than Stig in regard to Ch solubilization; (iii) from the 1:1 mixt...