Investigation of the memory impairment in rats fed with oxidized-cholesterol-rich diet employing passive avoidance test.

Recent studies have shown that hypercholesterolemia, besides being a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, has also toxic effects on central nervous system. The design of the present study was to investigate the effects of dietary cholesterol and oxidized cholesterol on cognitive function. Male Wistar rats were randomly divided into 3 groups. The animals were fed with three normal, 2% cholesterol-rich, and 2% oxidized cholesterol-rich diets for 14 weeks. Memory impairment was analyzed by passive avoidance test. Coenzyme Q10 content was also measured by a validate RP-HPLC method. Besides, lipid peroxidation in serum and brain tissue was determined by malondialdehyde concentration measurement. The results showed that feeding rats with high oxidized cholesterol diet for 14 weeks significantly impaired the cognitive function compared to the normal (P The results suggested that the high dietary intake of the oxidized-cholesterol might impair the memory that could be correlated to the oxidative stress and declined the coenzyme Q10 content of the brain tissue.