Stearic acid crystals
Stearic acid (IUPAC systematic name: octadecanoic acid) is one of the useful types of saturated fatty acids that comes from many animal and vegetable fats and oils.
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1 branded products available
Therapeutically similar medicines
Similarity is based on WHO Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) classification and on a factual NHS dm+d therapeutic-grouping code prefix. Source data: NHS dm+d via TRUD (OGL v3.0), WHO ATC/DDD Index.
NHS prescribing volume and spending trends
Check stock at pharmacies and supply information
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Supply & safety information
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Codes for healthcare professionals and prescribing systems
These codes are used by healthcare IT systems and prescribers to identify this medicine.
NHS UK identifiers
SNOMED CT and dm+d codes from NHS TRUD (Technology Reference data Update Distribution), licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. BNF code shown is the factual mapping value distributed by NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) in the dm+d supplementary file under OGL v3.0; it is not affiliated with, nor licensed from, the publishers of the British National Formulary.
Active and completed clinical studies from ClinicalTrials.gov
Source: ClinicalTrials.gov, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health (NIH). Data accessed via ClinicalTrials.gov API v2. Trial information is provided for research purposes and does not constitute medical advice.
Academic studies and reviews for this medicine's active substance
Showing all 30 studies.
Reviews & meta-analyses: 3 · 2017–2024
Showing all 30 studies, sorted by most relevant.
M. V. van Rooijen, R. Mensink
Nutrients, 2020
- Cardiovascular Diseases
- Esterification
- Stearic Acids
Fats that are rich in palmitic or stearic acids can be interesterified to increase their applicability for the production of certain foods. When compared with palmitic acid, stearic acid lowers low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol, which is a well-known risk factor for coronary heart disease (CHD), but its effects on other cardiometabolic risk markers have been studied less extensively. In addition, the positional distribution of these two fatty acids within the triacylglycerol molecule may affect their metabolic effects. The objective was to compare the longer-term and postprandial effects of (interesterified) fats that are rich in either palmitic or stearic acids on cardiometabolic risk markers in humans. Two searches in PubMed/Medline, Embase (OVID) and Cochrane Library were performed; one to identify articles that studied effects of the position of palmitic or stearic acids within the triacylglycerol molecule and one to identify articles that compared side-by-side effects of palmitic acid with those of stearic acid. The interesterification of palmitic or stearic acid-rich fats does not seem to affect fasting serum lipids and (apo) lipoproteins. However, substituting palmitic acid with stearic acid lowers LDL-cholesterol concentrations. Postprandial lipemia is attenuated if the solid fat content of a fat blend at body temperature is increased. How (the interesterification of) palmitic or stearic acid-rich fats affects other cardiometabolic risk markers needs further investigation.
Abstract licence: CC BY
Xiang Liu, Tian C. Zhang, Huaqiang He, et al.
Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 2020
Chuanchang Li, Bo Zhang, B. Xie, et al.
Sustainable Cities and Society, 2019
Xinyi Shen, Shuo Miao, Yaping Zhang, et al.
Clinical nutrition, 2024
- Stearic Acids
- Cardiovascular Diseases
- Energy Metabolism
Jiasheng Dai, M. Feng, Fu Zhen, et al.
Renewable Energy, 2021
Zuozhu Yin, Min Li, Zihao Li, et al.
Journal of environmental management, 2023
- Environmental Pollutants
- Water Purification
- Hexanes
M. Atarian, A. Rajaei, M. Tabatabaei, et al.
Carbohydrate polymers, 2019
Zhenwei Yu, Yu-Sheng Wang, Haihua Chen, et al.
Food Hydrocolloids, 2018
Mengting Yu, Lu Yang, Limei Yan, et al.
International journal of biological macromolecules, 2023
- Zinc Oxide
- Chitosan
- Stearic Acids
Deniz Senyilmaz-Tiebe, Daniel Pfaff, S. Virtue, et al.
Nature Communications, 2018
- Beverages
- Carnitine
- Diabetes Mellitus
Since modern foods are unnaturally enriched in single metabolites, it is important to understand which metabolites are sensed by the human body and which are not. We previously showed that the fatty acid stearic acid (C18:0) signals via a dedicated pathway to regulate mitofusin activity and thereby mitochondrial morphology and function in cell culture. Whether this pathway is poised to sense changes in dietary intake of C18:0 in humans is not known. We show here that C18:0 ingestion rapidly and robustly causes mitochondrial fusion in people within 3 h after ingestion. C18:0 intake also causes a drop in circulating long-chain acylcarnitines, suggesting increased fatty acid beta-oxidation in vivo. This work thereby identifies C18:0 as a dietary metabolite that is sensed by our bodies to control our mitochondria. This could explain part of the epidemiological differences between C16:0 and C18:0, whereby C16:0 increases cardiovascular and cancer risk whereas C18:0 decreases both.
Abstract licence: CC BY
Sources: aggregated from Europe PMC (EMBL-EBI), OpenAlex, Crossref, PubMed and other open scholarly databases. Retracted articles are excluded. Study information is provided for research purposes and does not constitute medical advice.
Pharmacology and chemical data from DrugBank
Key facts
Drug status
Approved
Major interactions
None known
Half-life
Not available
Mechanism
Not available
Food interactions
None known
Human targets
2 targets
Data: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0
Pharmacokinetics at a glance
Proteins and enzymes this drug interacts with in the body
Activated by oleylethanolamide, a naturally occurring lipid that regulates satiety. Receptor for peroxisome proliferators such as hypolipidemic drugs and fatty acids. Regulates the peroxisomal beta-oxidation pathway of fatty acids.
Functions as a transcription activator for the ACOX1 and P450 genes. Transactivation activity requires heterodimerization with RXRA and is antagonized by NR2C2. May be required for the propagation of clock information to metabolic pathways regulated by PER2
PMID:10455175 PMID:10681567
Hydrolyzes the ester bond of the fatty acyl group attached at sn-2 position of phospholipids (phospholipase A2 activity) with preference for phosphatidylethanolamines and phosphatidylglycerols over phosphatidylcholines .
PMID:10455175
In draining lymph nodes, selectively hydrolyzes diacyl and alkenyl forms of phosphatidylethanolamines, releasing omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) such as eicosapentaenoate and docosahexaenoate that are precursors of the anti-inflammatory lipid mediators, resolvins (By similarity). During the resolution phase of acute inflammation drives docosahexaenoate-derived resolvin D1 synthesis, which suppresses dendritic cell activation and T-helper 1 immune response (By similarity). May act in an autocrine and paracrine manner (By similarity).
Via a mechanism independent of its catalytic activity, promotes differentiation of regulatory T cells (Tregs) and participates in the maintenance of immune tolerance (By similarity). May contribute to lipid remodeling of cellular membranes and generation of lipid mediators involved in pathogen clearance. Displays bactericidal activity against Gram-positive bacteria by directly hydrolyzing phospholipids of the bacterial membrane (By similarity)
Proteins that carry this drug through the body
PMID:19021548
Major calcium and magnesium transporter in plasma, binds approximately 45% of circulating calcium and magnesium in plasma (By similarity).
Potentially has more than two calcium-binding sites and might additionally bind calcium in a non-specific manner (By similarity). The shared binding site between zinc and calcium at residue Asp-273 suggests a crosstalk between zinc and calcium transport in the blood (By similarity). The rank order of affinity is zinc > calcium > magnesium (By similarity).
Binds to the bacterial siderophore enterobactin and inhibits enterobactin-mediated iron uptake of E.coli from ferric transferrin, and may thereby limit the utilization of iron and growth of enteric bacteria such as E.coli .
PMID:6234017
Does not prevent iron uptake by the bacterial siderophore aerobactin PMID:6234017
Chemical identifiers
CAS, UNII, InChI Key and database cross-references
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Chemical identifiers
CAS, UNII, InChI Key and database cross-references
Linked compound data from DrugBank Open Data (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Stearic acid
Additional database identifiers
Drugs Product Database (DPD)
9820
ChemSpider
5091
BindingDB
50240485
PDB
STE
ZINC
ZINC000004978673
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:9232
GenAtlas
PPARA
GeneCards
PPARA
GenBank Gene Database
L02932
GenBank Protein Database
307341
Guide to Pharmacology
593
UniProt Accession
PPARA_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:9033
GeneCards
PLA2G2D
GenBank Gene Database
AF112982
GenBank Protein Database
5771420
Guide to Pharmacology
1418
UniProt Accession
PA2GD_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:3557
GenAtlas
FABP3
GeneCards
FABP3
GenBank Gene Database
X56549
GenBank Protein Database
31293
Guide to Pharmacology
2533
UniProt Accession
FABPH_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:399
GenAtlas
ALB
GeneCards
ALB
GenBank Gene Database
V00494
GenBank Protein Database
28590
UniProt Accession
ALBU_HUMAN
DrugBank citations
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Structured knowledge from the free knowledge base
Molecular structure
Linked open data from Wikidata (Q209685), a free and open knowledge base operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. Data is available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Public Domain Dedication. Molecular structure images from Wikimedia Commons.