• One of the many phytochemicals which have, in recent years, stimulated research into the healing and protective effects of plants.
  
  
• Both sterols and sterolins were identified and chemically elucidated as early as1922.



• They are plant "fats" present in every single plant (fruits and vegetables). Chemically very similar to the animal fat, cholesterol but totally different in biological functions.



• Sterols never exist on their own: always in combination with their glucosides.



• In the natural state, they are bound to the fibres of the plant and for this reason, they are difficult to desorb from the fibres.



• Seeds are the richest source of the sterols and sterolins and yet, the refining processes applied in the food industry render the foods useless because they remove the sterols and sterolins to make the product more appealing to the eye (such as no precipitation of the fats in the extracted oils from seeds).



• Also of importance is the fact that our diet is low in plant materials (vegetables and fruits) or we have recourse to the fast food outlets!!



• The way in which we prepare our vegetables is also a major cause for concern: we freeze the vegetables (which releases enzymes and these in turn destroy the glucosides) and then we boil and throw away the water. It is like throwing away the baby with the bath water!!

THE IMMUNE SYSTEM AND ITS DEPENDENCE ON STEROLS AND STEROLINS

• Our immune system is made up of several cells - and the factors which they secrete in response to an invading offender.



• On one hand we have cells called B lymphocytes which make proteins (antibodies) which bind to and inactivate the organism only if the organism is on the outside of the host's cells (for example, a bacterium). Once the organism has been internalized, it is inaccessible to the action of the antibodies. This was a ploy developed by microorganisms in order to evade the immune system.

 
• On the other hand, the T cells are specialized cells which fight off offenders which live inside the host's cells (eg. Viruses, certain bacteria, etc). The T cells secrete soluble factors which enhance the functions of specialized cytotoxic cells which kill off the infected cells.



• Sterols and sterolins have been shown to modulate the functions of the T cells by enhancing their cellular division and their secretion of these important soluble factors called Iymphokines. Also, the activity of the cytotoxic cells is greatly promoted in the presence of the sterols/sterolins mixture. These activities are of utmost importance in fighting off viral diseases or diseases involving bacteria vvhich live inside cells (eg. tuberculosis).



• It should be noted that the enhancing activity described above is maximal when both the sterols and sterolins are present. It was previously shown that the absorption of the sterols is increased when in conjunction with the sterolins and vice versa. It therefore stands to reason that both are required to carry out this immunological activity.



• Hence, under ideal and healthy conditions whereby the person is taking the sterols/sterolins mixture, the cells of the immune system are "primed" to function optimally so that an infection is taken care of quicker and more efficiently.



• In certain diseases. the immune system starts to attack one's own body by producing antibodies directed to the host's body constituents. These are called autoimmune diseases (eg. Rheumatoid arthritis, Systemic Lupus Erythematosusor SLE, Multiple Sclerosis, etc) and these are known to arise in response to an overproduction of lymphokines which promote the functions of B cells making the antibodies. If the "correct" lymphokines could be secreted by the T cells then one should be able to correct the disease process and the disease would be alleviated. In other words, the sterols/sterolins mixture treat the underlying causes and not the symptoms.

Other diseases/conditions which would benefit from the intake of sterols /sterolins mixture include:

• (1) Cancer: it is known that the individual's immune system is low thereby allowing the growth of cancer cells. By enhancing the function of both T cells and the secretion of lymphokines, it can be predicted that the cancer cells will be attacked and killed.
   
• (2) Allergies: in these conditions, the lymphokines secreted by the T cells promote the B cells to make a certain type of antibodies (IgE). Because the sterols/sterolins mixtrue stimulate the secretion of "good" lymphokines which inhibit the IgE promoting lymphokines, the symptoms of an allergic state would disappear.
   
• (3) Chronic viral diseases: such as HIV infection where it is known that the immune suppression is due to the body's immune system failing to make sufficient lymphokines which stimulate the activity of cytotoxic T cells (hence chronic infection):~nd aLso the T cells fail to divide in response to the invading virus or other opprotunistic organisms. Since the sterolsisterolins stimulate both the proliferation of lymphocytes when these have to respond to organisms as well as the secretion of Iymphokines, in these diseases. the individuals would find that their immune system would cope with the onslaught by the invading organism and that there would not be destruction of the immune cells which normally accompanies infection by HIV.
   
• (4) Stress: the killer of modern man. It is a well known fact that stress (either physical or mental) has a detrimental effect on the immune system due to the synthesis and release of hormones such as Cortisol. It has been the interest of prominent immunologists and sports medicine doctors to find out why marathon runners are prone to colds and influenza during the period immediately following a marathon run. It is now known that during the excessive physical stress, the immune system is inhibited by the secretion of cortisol and the increased released of proinflammatory factors (due to tissue damage). Sterols/strerolins have been shown to reverse these processes and to prevent the post-marathon infections: indeed, the plant sterols/sterolins decrease the blood levels of cortisol as well as the factors which themselves induce inflammation (tissue damage, muscular aches and stiffness, etc.).

For the Biochemist: The Structure of Various Sterols