Serum levels of
cholesterol precursors (
squalene, delta 8-
cholestanol,
desmosterol and
lathosterol),
plant sterols (
campesterol and
sitosterol),
cholestanol and
cholestanol/noncholesterol
sterol ratios were related to liver damage and
liver transplantation indications in healthy controls (n = 26) and in 31 patients with
primary biliary cirrhosis divided into group I (S-
bilirubin less than 21 mumol/L; n = 14), group II (S-
bilirubin 21 to 108 mumol/L; n = 7) and group III (elected for
liver transplantation; S-
bilirubin 109 to 520 mumol/L; n = 10). The mean serum respective
lathosterol levels in controls and in group I were three and two times higher than those in groups II and III, respectively. The
plant sterol contents were higher in group II than in groups I and III and the
campesterol/
sitosterol ratios were lowest in group III. The serum
cholestanol levels were high even in group I (i.e., in patients without
icterus) and increased progressively to group III, up to 6 and 13 times those in group I and the control group, respectively. The
cholestanol/noncholesterol
sterol ratios increased progressively from the controls to groups I, II and III. The serum
cholestanol levels were positively related to serum
bilirubin levels in all
primary biliary cirrhosis patients (n = 31, r = 0.906) and to the
plant sterol levels in the control group and group I, but significantly negatively in group III. The
cholestanol vs. precursor
sterol correlations were negative in most cases.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)