Abstract: Objective To investigate the effects of β-sitosterol on serum lipids,spatial learning and memory.Methods Sixty male C57BL/6J mice were divided into chow diet(control),hypercholesterolemic diet(HF),and 4.0 mg/kg(LβSITO),16.0 mg/kg(MβSITO),32.0 mg/kg(HβSITO),β-sitosterol treated groups(n=12 for each group).Results Serum cholesterol and low density lipoprotein cholesterol level in 32.0mg/kg β-sitosterol group were significantly decreased,and their escape latency in morris water maze task was significantly shortened compared to that in hypercholesterolemic diet feed group.Conclusion These results indicated that β-sitosterol lowered serum cholesterol and improved spatial and learning and memory of mice with HF.

Key words: β-sitosterol, total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein cholesterol, spatial learning memory