Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a leading cause of death worldwide. Elevated concentrations of serum total cholesterol (TC) and low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL‐C) are major lipid biomarkers that contribute to the risk of CVD. Phytosterols well known for their cholesterol‐lowering ability, are non‐nutritive compounds that are naturally found in plant‐based foods and can be classified into plant sterols and plant stanols. Numerous clinical trials demonstrated that 2 g phytosterols per day have LDL‐C lowering efficacy ranges of 8–10%. Some observational studies also showed an inverse association between phytosterols and LDL‐C reduction. Beyond the cholesterol‐lowering beneficial effects of phytosterols, the association of phytosterols with CVD risk events such as coronary artery disease and premature atherosclerosis in sitosterolemia patients have also been reported. Furthermore, there is an increasing demand to determine the association of circulating phytosterols with vascular health biomarkers such as arterial stiffness biomarkers. Therefore, this review aims to examine the ability of phytosterols for CVD risk prevention by reviewing the current data that looks at the association between dietary phytosterols intake and serum lipid biomarkers, and the impact of circulating phytosterols level on vascular health biomarkers. The clinical studies in which the impact of phytosterols on vascular function is investigated show minor but beneficial phytosterols effects over vascular health. The aforementioned vascular health biomarkers are pulse wave velocity, augmentation index, and arterial blood pressure. The current review will serve to begin to address the research gap that exists between the association of dietary phytosterols with CVD risk biomarkers.

中文翻译：

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膳食植物甾醇与人类心血管疾病生物标志物的关联。

心血管疾病 (CVD) 是全球主要的死亡原因。血清总胆固醇（TC）和低密度脂蛋白胆固醇（LDL-C）浓度升高是导致心血管疾病风险的主要脂质生物标志物。植物甾醇以其降低胆固醇的能力而闻名，是天然存在于植物性食物中的非营养化合物，可分为植物甾醇和植物甾烷醇。许多临床试验表明，每天 2 克植物甾醇具有 8-10% 的降低 LDL-C 的功效。一些观察性研究还表明，植物甾醇与 LDL-C 降低呈负相关。除了植物甾醇的降低胆固醇的有益作用，植物甾醇与 CVD 风险事件（如谷甾醇血症患者的冠状动脉疾病和过早动脉粥样硬化）的关联也有报道。此外，越来越需要确定循环植物甾醇与血管健康生物标志物（如动脉僵硬度生物标志物）之间的关联。因此，本综述旨在通过审查目前研究膳食植物甾醇摄入量与血清脂质生物标志物之间关联的数据，以及循环植物甾醇水平对血管健康生物标志物的影响，来检验植物甾醇预防 CVD 风险的能力。研究植物甾醇对血管功能影响的临床研究表明，植物甾醇对血管健康有轻微但有益的影响。上述血管健康生物标志物是脉搏波速度、增强指数和动脉血压。目前的审查将有助于开始解决膳食植物甾醇与 CVD 风险生物标志物的关联之间存在的研究差距。