植物甾醇/植物甾烷醇是在植物油、坚果和种子中发现的生物活性化合物，并添加到一系列商业食品中。摄入植物甾醇/植物甾烷醇可降低循环低密度脂蛋白胆固醇的水平，这是心血管疾病的致病生物标志物，并与降低某些癌症的风险有关。在饮食中摄入植物甾醇/植物甾烷醇的个人可能会多年来这样做，作为降低胆固醇的非药物途径的一部分或作为健康饮食的一部分。然而，长期或大量摄入膳食植物甾醇/植物甾烷醇以前并未对全身表观遗传变化产生影响。本系统综述的目的是确定所有评估了植物甾醇/植物甾烷醇引起的表观遗传机制（组蛋白翻译后修饰、DNA 甲基化和 miRNA 表达）变化的出版物。系统检索返回 226 条记录，其中 11 条符合全文分析条件。研究发现多种植物甾醇可抑制组蛋白脱乙酰酶的表达，并且预计还可直接结合并损害组蛋白脱乙酰酶活性。研究发现植物甾醇可抑制 DNA 甲基转移酶 1 的表达和活性，并逆转癌症相关基因沉默。最后，植物甾醇已被证明可以调节 200 多种 miRNA，尽管多种出版物中只报道了其中的 5 种。这些研究涉及五种组织类型（乳腺、前列腺、巨噬细胞、主动脉上皮、肺），尽管植物甾醇/植物甾烷醇改变了这些哺乳动物细胞表观遗传的分子机制，但尚未发现探索有丝分裂或跨代遗传的研究。

Phytosterols/phytostanols are bioactive compounds found in vegetable oils, nuts, and seeds and added to a range of commercial food products. Consumption of phytosterols/phytostanols reduces levels of circulating low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, a causative biomarker of cardiovascular disease, and is linked to a reduced risk of some cancers. Individuals who consume phytosterols/phytostanols in their diet may do so for many years as part of a non-pharmacological route to lower cholesterol or as part of a healthy diet. However, the impact of long-term or high-intakes of dietary phytosterols/phytostanols has not been on whole-body epigenetic changes before. The aim of this systematic review was to identify all publications that have evaluated changes to epigenetic mechanisms (post-translation modification of histones, DNA methylation, and miRNA expression) in response to phytosterols/phytostanols. A systematic search was performed that returned 226 records, of which eleven were eligible for full text analysis. Multiple phytosterols were found to inhibit expression of histone deacetylase enzymes and were also predicted to directly bind and impair histone deacetylase activity. Phytosterols were found to inhibit the expression and activity of DNA methyl transferase enzyme 1 and reverse cancer associated gene silencing. Finally, phytosterols have been shown to regulate over 200 miRNAs, although only five of these were reported in multiple publications. Five tissue types (breast, prostate, macrophage, aortic epithelia, lung) were represented across the studies, and although phytosterols/phytostanols alter the molecular mechanisms of epigenetic inheritance in these mammalian cells, studies exploring mitotic or transgenerational inheritance were not found.