Table 1.

Studies on biological activity of phytosterol from plants or as compounds.

S. No.	Phytosteroor Its Sources	Model	Type of Study	Biological Activity of Phytosterol	Implication	Reference
1	0.4% stigmasterol and β-sitosterol in the diet	Mice fed a Western-style high-fat diet	In vivo	Antilipidemic activity	The study found that phytosterols were beneficial in preventing nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) caused by a high-fat Western diet (HFWD) (NAFLD). In this long-term (33-week) investigation, phytosterols, at a dose comparable to that advised for the alleviation of NAFLD, were predominantly related to the decreases in hepatic cholesterol, triglycerides with polyunsaturated fatty acids, and modifications of hepatic-free fatty acid.	[11]
2	Dry leaves of Eryngium foetidum L. hexane extract	Six female Swiss mice weighing 25–30 g each	In vivo	Anti-inflammatory activity	In the chromatographic fractionation of the Eryngium foetidum L. leaves isolate, a-cholesterol, brassicasterol, campesterol, stigmasterol (as the main component, 95%), clerosterol, β-sitosterol, D5-avenasterol, D524-stigmastadienol, and D7-avenasterol were all detected. The topical anti-inflammatory effects of hexane extract and stigmasterol reduced oedema in the same proportion in both animal tests (acute and chronic). Both the extract and the compound greatly reduced myeloperoxidase activity in the acute phase but not in the chronic phase, suggesting that Eryngium foetidum L. leaves could be used to treat contact dermatitis. Because stigmasterol possesses anti-inflammatory activities on the epidermis but is not a major anti-inflammatory agent, other bioactive components are likely involved in the hexane extract’s efficacy.	[12]
3	Lagerstroemia speciosa seed ethanolic extract		In silico	Breast cancer	The ADME (Adsorption, Distribution, Metabolism, Excretion) characteristics, pharmacokinetic features, drug-likeliness, and acute toxicity of the discovered phytosterols compounds are predicted by ethanolic extracts Lagerstroemia speciosa seeds GC–MS analysis and in silico analysis. GC–MS analysis identified 29 chemicals from the extract, four phytosterol derivatives, cholesterol margarate, 7-dehydrodiosgenin, stigmastan-3,5-diene, and γ-sitosterol, which were shown to be non-toxic, non-carcinogenic, and non-mutagenic. The extent of molecular interaction with breast cancer targets is also revealed by molecular docking studies. This research reveals that phytosterols derived from Lagerstroemia speciosa’s ethanolic seed extract could be a potential anti-breast cancer alternative.	[13]
4	β-sitosterol	Male albino wistar rats	In vivo	Anti-inflammatory activity	In high fat diet- and sucrose-induced type-2 diabetic rats, β-sitosterol treatment normalises raised serum levels of proinflammatory cytokines, such as leptin, resistin, tumour necrosis factor-(TNF-α), and interleukin-6 (IL-6) and increases anti-inflammatory adipocytokines, such as adiponectin. In diabetic rats’ adipocytes, β-sitosterol lowers sterol regulatory element binding protein-1c (SREBP-1c) and increases Peroxisome Proliferator–Activated Receptor-γ (PPAR-γ) gene expression. In β-sitosterol-treated groups, c-Jun-N-terminal kinase-1 (JNK1), inhibitor of nuclear factor kappa-B kinase subunit beta (IKK), and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kB) gene and protein expression were likewise considerably reduced. This study reveals that SIT prevents obesity-induced insulin resistance by reducing inflammatory events in the adipose tissue via inhibiting the IKK/NF-kB and c-Jun-N-terminal kinase (JNK) signalling pathways.	[14]
5	β-sitosterol	Male albino wistar rats	In vivo	Antidiabetic activity	Treatment with β-sitosterol restored the altered levels of blood glucose, serum insulin, testosterone, lipid profile, oxidative stress indicators, antioxidant enzymes, insulin receptor (IR), and glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4) proteins in a high-fat diet and sucrose-induced diabetic rats. This research shows that β-sitosterol improves glycemic control in high-fat and sucrose-induced type-2 diabetic rats through activating IR and GLUT4. In addition, the results of in silico analysis match those of in vivo testing.	[15]
6	β-sitosterol	Male albino wistar rats	In vivo	Antidiabetic activity	When compared to high-fat diet and sucrose induced type-2 diabetic rats, β-sitosterol increased the mRNA expression of IR and post-receptor insulin signalling molecules such as IRS-1, β-arrestin-2, Akt, AS160, and GLUT4, as well as the levels of IRS-1, p-IRS1-1Tyr632, Akt, p-AktSer473/Thr308, AS160, and p-AS160Thr642. In this study, in silico analysis revealed that β-sitosterol has a higher binding affinity for β-arrestin-2, c-Src, and IRS-1, as well as Akt proteins, and has been shown to reduce insulin resistance, as evidenced by in vivo data. According to the findings, β-sitosterol reduces the potential effects of a high-fat diet on adipose tissue.	[16]
7	β-sitosterol	Male albino wistar rats	In vivo	Antidiabetic activity	In this study, high-fat diet and sucrose-induced diabetic rats showed reduced glucose and insulin tolerances, as well as insulin signalling molecules (IR and GLUT4) and glycogen levels. Serum insulin, lipid profile, LPO, H2O2, and OH* levels were shown to be higher in diabetic rats. The β-sitosterol therapy brought blood glucose, insulin, lipid profile, oxidative stress indicators, IR, and GLUT4 protein levels back to normal. This research suggests that IR and GLUT4 activation by β-sitosterol improves glycemic control in the gastrocnemius muscle of HFD-fed and sucrose-induced type 2 diabetic rats.	[17]
8	Phormidium autumnale (P. autumnale) cyanobacteria		In vitro	Neuroprotective properties	Compressed fluid technologies were used to produce phytosterol-rich extracts from P. autumnale cyanobacteria in order to investigate their potential neuroprotective capabilities in this work. The optimised compressed fluid extract demonstrated stronger in vitro neuroprotective efficacy than the non-enriched extract in bioactivity tests, such as acetylcholinesterase inhibition, lipoxygenase inhibition, and antioxidant capacity. The specificity of sterol interaction with acetylcholinesterase active sites was demonstrated using in-silico molecular docking investigations. These findings support future investigation of P. autumnale as a source of bioactive phytosterols, highlighting the utility of compressed fluid methods in obtaining phytosterol-rich extracts.	[18]
9	Soybean oil contains stigmasterol	KK-Ay mice	In vivo	Anti-diabetic activity	In L6 cells, stigmasterol greatly boosted GLUT4 translocation and glucose absorption. Furthermore, this in vivo research revealed that after 4 weeks of stigmasterol therapy, the hyperglycemic phenotype of diabetic KK-Ay mice was dramatically relieved, with significantly lower fasting glucose, indicating a considerable hypoglycemic impact against T2DM. In this investigation, stigmasterol appeared to offer potential benefits in the treatment of type 2 diabetes, with the likely method of targeting the GLUT4 glucose transporter, including increased GLUT4 translocation and expression.	[19]
10	Lophenol (Lo) and cycloartanol (Cy), minor phytosterols of Aloe vera gel	Zucker diabetic fatty (ZDF) rats	In vivo	Anti-diabetic activity	After 35 days of treatment, minor phytosterols from Aloe vera gel, lophenol (Lo) and cycloartanol (Cy), decreased hyperglycemia and random blood glucose levels in Zucker diabetic fatty (ZDF) rats, an obese animal model of type II diabetes. Apart from total cholesterol, continued treatment of Lo and Cy lowered blood free fatty acid (FFA) and triglyceride (TG) levels (T-Cho). Furthermore, with Lo (27.7%) and Cy (26.3%) treatment, the weights of total abdominal fat tissues in ZDF rats were considerably lower than in the control group. These findings imply that phytosterols obtained from Aloe vera may help to minimise visceral fat buildup and ameliorate hyperlipidemia and hyperglycemia.	[20]
11	Nuts	Human study	In vivo	Anti-diabetic activity	Randomised controlled studies of type 2 diabetes patients corroborated the positive benefits of nuts on blood lipids, which were also found in non-diabetic people, but no change in A1C or other glycated proteins was identified in the trials. However, acute feeding studies have shown that nuts can lower postprandial glycemia when consumed with a carbohydrate (bread). Additionally, nut intake was related to lower postprandial oxidative stress. Nuts have a favourable nutritional profile, being abundant in monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), as well as being good sources of vegetable protein. Nuts may so increase the diet’s overall nutritious quality.	[21]