The analytical conditions for the extraction of cholesterol and cholesterol oxides in chicken meat were optimized by means of response surface methodology. The separation and identification were performed by normal phase HPLC using UV and refractive index (RI) detectors, and the confirmation of the 11 cholesterol oxides identities in the samples was verified by HPLC-APCI-MS. The developed methodology showed good analytical performance, presenting recovery levels from 84 to 103% and detection limits varying from 0.01 to 0.06 mu g/g for UV detection and from 1.98 to 2.12,mu g/g for RI detection. The present study demonstrated the presence of 22R-hydroxycholesterol, 24S-hydroxy-cholesterol, and 22S-hydroxycholesterol for the first time in chicken meat.56929132918