Correlation between prolonged hyperlipidemia & cognition in wistar male rats

The present study was undertaken to study relation between hyperlipidemia and memory loss and to assess protective effect of hypolipidemic drugs on memory, in rats. Hyperlipidemia was induced by feeding rats with the cholesterol-rich high fat diet for two months. At the end of  study the parameters assessing memory were checked by three models, i.e. Passive Avoidance Test (Step In Latency-SIL), Elevated Plus Maze (Transfer Latency-TL) and Hebb Williams Maze (Time to reach Reward Chamber-TRC) followed by assessment of lipid profile. High fat diet groups showed memory impairment in all three models compared to normal diet groups and atorvastatin treatment with high fat diet showed significant protection from not only hyperlipidemia but also from memory loss in Hebb Williams maze and in Passive avoidance test. The present study indicates the advantage of controlling hyperlipidemia, which in turn is shown to protect from memory impairment.