Effect of quercetin on learning and memory of mice fed high fat diet

To explore the effect of quercetin on learning and memory in C57B /L mice fed high-fat diet and potential mechanism.45 female C57B /L mice were randomly divided into three groups: control group(normal diet),high-fat diet group(about 20% fat),quercetin group(high-fat diet supplemented with 0.01% quercetin).Morris water maze experiment was conducted at the 26thweek.After that,mice were sacrificed.Then oxidative stress indexes in cortex and hippocampus were tested and the expression of NF-E2-related factor 2(Nrf2),Heme oxygenase-1(HO-1) and Brain derived neurotrophic factor(BDNF) in hippocampus were evaluated by RT-PCR.Compared to the control group,there was a significant deficit in learning and memory in HFD group(p 0.05).The cortex and hippocampus of mice fed high-fat diet were exposed to significant oxidative damage(p 0.05).Furthermore,the expression of Nrf2,HO-1 and BDNF in hippocampus tissue decreased significantly(p 0.05) in HFD group.After treated with quercetin,oxidative damage of cortex and hippocampus was alleviated.Additionally,the expression of Nrf2,HO-1 and BDNF were up-regulated and learning and memory was improved significantly(p 0.05).Quercetin could improve high-fat diet induced memory and learning impairment,which might be attributed to upregulate the expression of Nrf2,HO-1 and BDNF.