Brassicasterol is a sterol found in certain plants and other foods such as seafood. Brassicaterol is found in high concentrations in brassica, also known as rapeseed oil. I am not aware of human trials examining the health benefit of brassicasterol when given as a supplement by itself, but it would make sense that brassicaterol would have similar physiological effects as other sterols such as sitosterol and stigmasterol.
Examples of phytosterols
There are a number of phytosterols including
beta sitosterol
often used by those with prostate issues,
stigmasterol, campesterol,
and brassicasterol.
Certain herbs have a high concentration of phytosterols, for instance,
saw palmetto. Plants are not the only ones that contain sterols. Many fish
and crustaceans also have a good amount of sterols. For instance, molluscs, such
as oysters, contain a
number of different sterols with cholesterol present as the major sterol.
trans-22-Dehydrocholesterol, brassicasterol, 24-methylenecholesterol, and
campesterol.
Brassicasterol in wild coriander
leaves
Eryngium foetidum is a Caribbean plant used in folk medicine for the treatment of several antiinflammatory
disorders. The extract is
rich in terpenic compounds alpha-cholesterol, brassicasterol, campesterol, stigmasterol (as the
main component, 95%) clerosterol, beta-sitosterol, delta 5-avenasterol, delta
(5)24-stigmastadienol and delta 7-avenasterol.
Brassicasterol in Snails and
Slugs
Snails and slugs belong to the phylum Mollusca. The sterols of slugs
include eight different sterols: cholesterol is 76-85% of the total sterols,
brassicasterol accounts for 4-13%; other sterols identified are lathosterol,
24-methylene cholesterol, campesterol, stigmasterol, sitosterol and sitostanol.
In contrast, snails contain two additional sterols, desmosterol and cholestanol.
Of the polyunsaturated fatty acids in slugs, linoleic (18:2n-6) and arachidonic
acids (20:4n-6) are the major n-6 fatty acids, while
linolenic (18:3n-3) and
eicosapentaenoic acids (20:5n-3) are the predominant n-3 fatty acids.
Docosahexaenoic acid (22:6n-3), the end product in the n-3 fatty acid synthetic
pathway and an important membrane fatty acid of mammals, fish and birds, is
absent in both slugs and snails.
Brassicasterol in Fungi
Two groups of fungi isolated from human skin and nail are the
dermatophytes Epidermophyton, Microsporum and Trichophyton species and the non-dermatophytes
Hendersonula toruloidea and Scytalidium hyalinum. Examination of the sterol
composition of these fungi by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry has
identified five new sterols from dermatophytes, namely cholesterol, campesterol,
episterol, fecosterol and sitosterol. These sterols, with ergosterol and
brassicasterol, were also identified from extracts of H. toruloidea and S.
hyalinum.
Mussel versus Flaxseed Oil and
Tuna Oil
A comparison between the composition of the oil derived from the
New Zealand Green Lipped Mussel (Lyprinol)
and two other oils rich in omega 3 fatty acids, namely flaxseed oil and
tuna oil. The main lipid classes in Lyprinol are sterol esters,
triglycerides, free fatty acids, sterols and phospholipids while
triglycerides are the main lipids in the other two oils. The main omega 3
fatty acids in Lyprinol is EPA and DHA, while in flaxseed oil and tuna oil
the main omega 3 fatty acids are ALA and DHA, respectively. The main
sterols in Lyprinol are cholesterol and desmosterol / brassicasterol,
while in flaxseed oil and tuna oil the main sterols are beta-sitosterol
and cholesterol, respectively.
For testing
Acta Psychiatr Scand. 2011. The plant sterol brassicasterol as
additional CSF biomarker in Alzheimer's disease. Plant sterols (sitosterol,
campesterol, stigmasterol and brassicasterol) are solely
dietary-derivable sterols that are structurally very similar to
cholesterol. In contrast to peripheral cholesterol, plant sterols can
cross the blood-brain barrier and accumulate within mammalian brain. As
an impaired function of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)-blood barrier is
linked to neurodegenerative disorders, i.e. Alzheimer's disease (AD), we
investigated whether this results in altered plant sterol concentrations
in CSF. Brassicasterol might be a relevant additional biomarker in AD.