Role of Copper and Cholesterol Association in the Neurodegenerative Process

Table 2

Esterfied (ECho) and free (FCho) cholesterol levels in animals fed with the experimental diets.

Diets	Cho (nmoles/mg·prot)
		Plasma		Brain zones
				Cortex			Hippocampus
	Esterified	Free	FCho/Echo	Esterified	Free	FCho/Echo	Esterified	Free	FCho/Echo
C	16.4±0.3^a	10.6±0.2^a	0.64±0.05^a	28.2±1.9^a	257.8±10.6^a	9.14±0.71^a	28.7±2.2^a	247.1 ± 9.7^a	8.61±0.60^a
Cu	16.8±0.4^a	11.7±0.3^a	0.70±0.05^a	35.8±2.2^b	260.2±7.3^a	7.26±0.42^b	39.2±1.8^b	252.1 ± 11.4^a	6.43±0.33^b
Cho	22.2±0.4^b	11.5±0.4^a	0.51±0.03^c	30.6±2.1^a	281.3±12.2^b	9.19±0.55^a	28.0±1.7^a	269.4 ± 11.4^b	9.62±0.21^c
CuCho	18.3±0.5^a	15.5±0.5^c	0.85±0.05^d	70.0±3.1^c	225.3±15.0^c	3.21±0.13^c	77.5±2.7^c	233.6±11.5^a	3.01±0.11^d

Cho and Cho-esters contents were determined enzymatically after HP-TLC as described in Section 2.7. Results are the mean of 10 independent measurements analyzed in triplicate ± SD. Comparisons between data were performed by ANOVA + Tukey test at 𝑃 < 0.01. Statistical differences among the experimental diets were indicated with distinct superscript letters (values within the same column with different superscript letters are statistically significant between them).