Plant sterols may unlock new cholesterol control pathway
NCT ID NCT07142317
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This study tests whether plant sterols, found in some foods, change how a newly discovered protein called cholesin works. Cholesin is released from the gut after eating cholesterol and tells the liver to make less cholesterol. Researchers will give 23 healthy adults three different shakes—low cholesterol, high cholesterol, and high cholesterol with plant sterols—and measure gene activity in their blood and gut cells. The goal is to understand how plant sterols might help lower cholesterol at the molecular level.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- plant sterols
- What this could lead to
- If successful, this could help explain how plant sterols lower cholesterol, potentially pointing toward new dietary or drug strategies for managing cholesterol.
- What could go wrong
- This is a small, early-stage study in healthy people, not patients. It only looks at short-term gene expression changes, not long-term health outcomes, so results may not apply to those with high cholesterol or heart disease.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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About 23 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Expected to start
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Oct 2025
An estimate. Start dates often move.
- Expected to finish
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Dec 2026
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 to 70 years
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Accepted
You do not need to have the condition being studied to take part.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * Men and women, aged between 18-70 years * BMI between 18.5-25.0 kg/m2 * Fasting serum total cholesterol (TC) \<8.0 mmol/L and fasting serum triacylglycerol (TAG) \<3 mmol/L * Fasting plasma glucose (FBG) \<7 mmol/L * Systolic blood pressure \<160 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure \<100 mmHg * Stable body weight (weight gain or loss of \<3 kg in the past three months) * Willingness to give up being a blood donor from 8 weeks before the start of the study, during the study, and for 4 weeks after completion of the study * No difficult venipuncture as evidenced during the screening visit Exclusion Criteria: * Allergy or intolerance to any of the components of the study meal * Familial hypercholesterolemia * History of gastrointestinal surgery, including bariatric procedures such as sleeve gastrectomy, gastric bypass, gastric band, gastric balloon, or other major gastrointestinal surgeries that may affect digestion or absorption * Current smokers * Diabetic patients * Pregnant and breastfeeding women * Abuse of drugs * More than 10 alcoholic consumptions per week for women and 14 for men * Not willing to stop the use of products or dietary supplements known to interfere with the main outcomes as judged by the principal investigator for at least 1 week before the start of the study * Use of medications to treat or affect blood pressure, lipid, or glucose metabolism * Use of an investigational product within another biomedical intervention trial within the previous 1 month * Severe medical conditions that might interfere with the study, such as: epilepsy, asthma, kidney failure or renal insufficiency, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, inflammatory bowel diseases, autoinflammatory diseases, and rheumatoid arthritis * Active cardiovascular disease, such as congestive heart failure, or a cardiovascular event, such as an acute myocardial infarction or a cerebrovascular accident
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As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Maastricht University
Maastricht, Limburg, 6229 ER, Netherlands
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