Research Article Role of Copper and Cholesterol Association in the Neurodegenerative Process

Copyright © 2013 Nathalie Arnal et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Age is one of the main factors involved in the development of neurological illnesses, in particular, Alzheimer, and it is widely held that the rapid aging of theworld population is accompanied by a rise in the prevalence and incidence ofAlzheimer disease.However, evidence from recent decades indicates that Cu andCho overload are emerging causative factors in neurodegeneration, a hypothesis that has been partially investigated in experimental models. The link between these two variables and the onset of Alzheimer disease has opened up interesting new possibilities requiring more in-depth analysis. The aim of the present study was therefore to investigate the effect of the association of Cu +Cho (CuCho) as a possible synergistic factor in the development of anAlzheimer-like pathology inWistar rats.Wemeasured total- and nonceruloplasmin-bound Cu and Cho (free and sterified) contents in plasma and brain zones (cortex and hippocampus), markers of oxidative stress damage, inflammation, and programmed cell death (caspase-3 and calpain isoforms). The ratio beta-amyloid (1-42)/(1-40) was determined in plasma and brain as neurodegenerative biomarker. An evaluation of visuospatial memory (Barnes maze test) was also performed. The results demonstrate the establishment of