Effects of β-sitosterol oral administration on the proliferation and differentiation of neural stem cells

•Oral administration of β-sitosterol promotes neural stem cell proliferation.•β-Sitosterol has no effect on neural stem cell in vitro differentiation.•β-Sitosterol has the potential translational value to recruit neural stem cell in neurological diseases. Considering the presence of β-sitosterol in different functional foods and the potential role of neural stem cells (NSCs) in treating neurodegenerative diseases, this study was designed to evaluate the effects of oral administration of β-sitosterol on proliferation and differentiation of NSCs. Adult mice were divided into three groups. For 2 weeks, the control group received vehicle and the low and high dose groups received 33 and 99 mg/kg/day of β-sitosterol, respectively. Harvested NSCs from the subventricular zone (SVZ) were plated in neurosphere culture and the size and number of resulting neurospheres, and also their in vitro differentiation, were evaluated. β-Sitosterol at 99 mg/kg/day significantly increased proliferation of NSCs as evidenced by their neurosphere forming frequency (719.2 ± 53.65) compared to the control group (457.6 ± 21.35). Mean neurosphere diameter was significantly larger in both high and low dose β-sitosterol groups compared to the control group. β-Sitosterol did not affect in vitro differentiation of NSCs.