A cholesterol metabolite; decreases TGF-β-induced Smad2 phosphorylation and TGF-β expression and prevents inhibition of DNA synthesis by TGF-β in Mv1Lu cells at 50 μg/ml; reduces serum cholesterol levels in a variety of animal models but is toxic to rats at 700-1,000 mg/kg per day; has been used as synthetic intermediate in the synthesis of steroids