Cholesterol, a vital lipid, is poorly soluble in water. This inherent property makes its dissolution a complex process, dependent on the environment and the form of cholesterol.
Cholesterol's Low Water Solubility
As an isolated molecule, cholesterol possesses minimal water solubility (hydrophilic). This is why it circulates in the blood at very low concentrations. [As an isolated molecule, cholesterol is only minimally soluble in water, or hydrophilic. Because of this, it dissolves in blood at exceedingly small concentrations.]
Methods to Enhance Cholesterol Dissolution
Several factors and methods can increase cholesterol solubility:
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Solvents: Cholesterol readily dissolves in organic solvents like acetone, benzene, and chloroform. [Solubility, soluble in acetone, benzene, chloroform, ...] This is useful in laboratory settings but not applicable to biological systems.
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Temperature: Increasing the temperature enhances cholesterol's solubility in various solvents. [The solubilities of cholesterol in pure solvents and mixed solvents increase with increasing temperature. At 323.2 K, the cholesterol ...]
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Cyclodextrins: These molecules form inclusion complexes with cholesterol, increasing its apparent solubility in aqueous solutions. [The authors showed that cyclodextrin dissolves extracellular and intracellular cholesterol crystals and increases cholesterol efflux from ...] This technique is used in some pharmaceutical preparations. [This product will not require heating or sonication. It is approximately 40mg of cholesterol per gram of powder with the remainder being cyclodextrin.]
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Bile Salts and Lecithin: In the digestive system, bile salts and lecithin act as emulsifiers, forming micelles that solubilize cholesterol and facilitate its absorption. [Lecithin increased the dissolving power of each bile salt species proportionally up to a lecithin-bile salt molar ratio of 1.0, at which point the amount of ...]
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Other compounds: Studies investigate the potential of compounds like gypenosides to enhance cholesterol gallstone dissolution. [This study assessed whether GPs could prevent lithogenic diet (LD)-induced cholesterol gallstone (CG) formation and enhance CG dissolution in mice.]
Cholesterol in Atherosclerosis
It is important to note that cholesterol's presence in atherosclerotic plaques is often in the form of cholesterol esters and solid cholesterol monohydrate crystals. These are less soluble than free cholesterol. [Uncomplicated human atherosclerotic plaques often contain large amounts of cholesterol esters and solid cholesterol monohydrate crystals.] Dissolving these crystals requires more sophisticated approaches than simply increasing the solubility of free cholesterol.
