Abstract
Male Wistar rats were fed an atherogenic diet for a period of 14 weeks to investigate possible diet-induced lipid alterations and Na+-K+ ATPase activity in their brain tissue. Total cholesterol and triglyceride levels were found to increase significantly in both serum and brain, while the phospholipid (PL) level was decreased in both. Serum LDL levels were markedly increased, whereas the HDL levels were decreased. The atherogenic diet caused a significant increase in brain sulphatide levels, but the cerebroside level remained unchanged. Increased spontaneous lipid peroxidation in brain tissue was also observed. Na+-K+ ATPase activity was depressed by about 50% in the brain of rats fed the atherogenic diet.
