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Abstract

Okra is known for its neuroprotective and antioxidant properties. We aimed to investigate the potential effects of okra seed powder in alleviating high far diet (HFD) induced cognitive deficit and hypercholesterolemia. We randomly allocated thirty-six C57BL/6J male mice into: (i) control, mice fed with a normal fat level diet; (ii) HFD, mice fed with HFD; (iii) HFD-OS1; (iv) HFD-OS2; (v) HFD-OS3, mice fed with HFD and okra seed powder (200, 400, or 800 mg/kg/day, respectively); (vi) HFD-SIM, mice fed with HFD and simvastatin (20 mg/kg/day). After 10 weeks of treatment period, the mice were tested with an episodic-like memory test (EMT) and Morris water maze (MWM). We found significantly higher total and LDL cholesterol levels in mice fed with HFD. Compared to the HFD group, the control group performed better in the EMT test, and also learned and retrieved spatial reference memory better in the MWM test. The okra seed powder significantly improved spatial learning in four days of acquisition trials and the highest dose of okra profoundly improved spatial reference memory retention during the probe trial. Contrary to the MWM results, the okra-treated animals did not perform significantly better than the HFD-treated animals in EMT. At present, we recommend future studies testing the potential neuroprotective or cognitive enhancing effects of okra to assess different cognitive domains using various disease models to have a better understanding on the potential neuroprotective properties of okra.