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Subcellular distribution of selenium in the liver from rats fed selenium from fish: selenocystine and inorganic selenite.

Four groups of rats of a normal selenium status were given different selenium compounds during a long-term feeding experiment (28 days). The selenium supplementations (per kg diet) were sodium selenite (1 mg), selenocystine (2 mg), and two different concentration levels of selenium from fish (0.1 and 1 mg). Differential pelleting of liver homogenates demonstrated that selenium was present in all the subcellular fractions, with a recovery of 55-60% in the cytosols. Gel permeation high-performance liquid chromatography of the cytosol fractions demonstrated the presence of protein-bound selenium at a molecular weight of 70,000 daltons. The subcellular distributions as well as the protein binding of selenium in the cytosols were identical in all dietary groups. This indicates a similar long-term liver metabolism of the four selenium compounds tested in the rat.

Animals

Selenium in human lactation.

The primary factor determining selenium concentration in human milk is the maternal selenium intake. A significant correlation between selenium in human milk and maternal selenium intake has been reviewed in papers from different regions of the world. Infants fed human milk have higher selenium intake than those fed commercially available formula milk or baby foods. Selenium compounds found in breast milk seem to be more biologically available for infant nutrition than those in formulas. Increased requirements of selenium have been observed in pregnant and lactating women. Supplementation of lactating and pregnant women with different selenium compounds has been assayed, and selenium supplementation of soil and cows has been used to increase the selenium status of children fed infant formula made from cow's milk.

Biological Availability

Is the selenium drinking water standard justified?

Four cases are presented which suggest that the present U.S.E.P.A. drinking water standard for selenium of 10 micrograms/L in inappropriate. The rationale upon which this standard is based is that selenium is carcinogenic, induces dental caries formation, and is highly toxic to animals. However, a critical assessment of this literature can not support these claims. Case no. 1 demonstrates that there is insufficient evidence to classify selenium as a carcinogen. Data derived from the three respective groups of researchers claiming a carcinogenic effect induced by selenium are obscure due to 1) the inability to accurately identify malignancies, 2) the apparent opposite effects of different selenium compounds, and 3) the lack of proper controls. Case no. 2 reviews recent evidence that selenium reduces the incidence of cancer in laboratory animals and in man, an effect which can probably be attributed to the antioxidant properties of selenium compounds. Case no. 3 provides evidence which does not permit the classification of selenium as a cariogenic element. Epidemiological studies supporting such a claim are inadequate since they lack properly matched control groups. Animal data do not support this link as well. Case no. 4 is a review of studies which clearly demonstrate the essentiality of selenium, an aspect of selenium metabolism that was not considered when the 10 micrograms/L standard was promulgated. In light of the four cases presented and an assessment of selenium toxicity in man, it is concluded that the 10 micrograms/L standard can not be justified. Instead, it is suggested that 50 micrograms/L selenium should provide sufficient protection from the toxic effects of this element. This is consistent with the current state of knowledge with respect to the potential adverse health effects associated with selenium.

9,10-Dimethyl-1,2-benzanthracene

Efficacy of trimethylselenonium versus selenite in cancer chemoprevention and its modulation by arsenite.

Selenite, which has been demonstrated to be an effective prophylactic agent in experimental carcinogenesis, is metabolized to trimethylselenonium as an excretory product. Previous reports in the literature have shown that arsenite decreases the toxicity of selenite but increases that of trimethylselenonium. The present study was designed to compare the anti-carcinogenic efficacy of selenite and trimethylselenonium and their interactions with arsenite in chemoprevention, using the dimethylbenz[a]anthracene-induced mammary tumor model in rats. The results of this experiment indicated that supplementation of selenite (3 p.p.m. Se) alone produced approximately 50% reduction in tumor yield, and arsenite (5 p.p.m. As) reduced the response to selenite. In contrast, arsenite greatly enhanced the protective effect of trimethylselenonium (40 p.p.m. Se); this combination was nearly as effective as selenite, although either trimethylselenonium or arsenite alone was inactive. Thus, arsenite has the capacity to influence the anti-carcinogenic action of selenium, and can either potentiate or attenuate the protective effect depending on the methylation state of the selenium compound. The metabolism of selenium and its perturbation by arsenite are discussed in relation to the above findings.

Animals

The influence of selinium on methyl mercury toxicity in rat hepatoma cells, human embryonic fibroblasts and human lymphocytes in culture.

The effect of methyl mercury and two selenium compounds have been studied in cell cultures. Methyl mercury in concentrations above 1 microM had a pronounced inhibiting effect on the growth of rat Morris hepatoma cells. Glucose and lactate uptake in relation to cell protein was appreciably stimulated by the organic mercury compound. Selenite in low concentration (0.5 microM) and seleno-di-N-acetyl glycine in thousandfold higher concentrations offered considerable protection against these effects of methyl mercury. The same selenite concentration (0.5 microM), which did not affect cell growth, caused an appreciable protection against methyl mercury (6 microM), even if it was added 3 days after methyl mercury. The methyl mercury inhibited the growth of human embryonic fibroblasts and the DNA-synthesis in the human lymphocytes. However, no protective effect of selenite were observed in these cell types. These results suggest that selenium compounds exert their protective effect through cell specific processes rather than by a direct chemical reaction between selenite and methyl mercury.

Animals

Mercury, silver, and gold inhibition of selenium-accelerated cysteine oxidation.

In vivo, cysteine in proteins or glutathione is the major amino acid involved in sulfhydryl oxidation-reduction reactions. An in vitro model of cysteine oxidation accelerated by selenium compounds was used to study the interaction of selenocystine and sodium selenite with metal ions. The interaction of metal ions with selenium compounds inhibited cysteine oxidation. The ionic forms of three toxic soft-acid metals, mercury, silver, and gold, were the most effective inhibitors. The antiarthritic gold drugs, aurothiomalate and aurothioglucose, were of particular interest as they inhibit the activity of selenium-glutathione peroxidase. The effect of gold ligands on gold(I) inhibition of selenocystine-accelerated cysteine oxidation was tested. Sodium cyanide partially reversed inhibition and potassium iodide had no effect. Inhibition of selenium-accelerated oxidation-reduction reactions by soft-acid metal ions may be of biological relevance during toxicities or during antiarthritic gold therapy.

Cysteine

Susceptibility of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus to the selenium-containing compound 2-phenyl-1,2-benzoisoselenazol-3(2H)-one (PZ51).

The growth of Staphylococcus aureus 209P was inhibited by 0.20 micrograms of 2-phenyl-1,2-benzoisoselenazol-3(2H)-one (PZ51) per ml, while strains of the family Enterobacteriaceae were more resistant to the drug. The MIC for 90% of methicillin-resistant S. aureus strains was 1.56 micrograms/ml, and the drug was bactericidal. The selenium in PZ51 was essential, since its sulfur analog (PZ25) lost the antibacterial activity.

Azoles

Fluoride-selenium interaction in the hard and soft tissues of the rat.

The interaction of dietary fluoride and selenium in the hard and soft tissues of rats was studied by providing drinking solutions containing 50 ppm F, as NaF, alone or plus 1 or 3 ppm Se as one of the following selenium compounds: NaSeO3, Na2SeO4, DL-selenomethionine, or DL-selenocystine. The following parameters were measured: symptoms of selenium toxicity, soft tissue uptake of fluoride and selenium, histology of liver and kidney tissues, fluoride uptake into growing femur bones, and fluoride uptake onto calcified molar enamel. No evidence was found that fluoride interacted with any of the four selenium compounds.

Animals

Screening for agents inhibiting the mutagenicity of extracts and constituents of tobacco products.

The aim of this study was to screen for potential agents affecting the mutagenicity of tobacco products. The influence of a number of compounds which have been suggested to be antimutagenic some of which are present in tobacco products, was investigated on the mutagenicity of a cigarette smoke condensate (CSC) and, in some cases, an extract of oral Swedish moist snuff (SNUS), using a screening procedure of the Ames Salmonella/microsome assay (STY). For some of the compounds the V79/hprt mutagenicity assay with benzo[a]pyrene metabolites as mutagens was used to obtain complementary and confirmatory information on mammalian cells. The antimutagens used included two selenium compounds, sodium selenite and ebselen; the flavonoids and polyphenols, ellagic acid, (+)-catechin hydrate, scopoletin, chlorogenic acid and rutin trihydrate; the porphyrin derivatives, bovine hemin, biliverdine dihydrochloride, chlorophyllin and a plant extract containing chlorophyll; the terpenoids, beta-carotene, retinol and a mixture of the two epimers (4R) and (4S) of (1S,2E,6R,7E,11E)-cembra-2,7,11-triene-4,6-diols (CBD); and cyclohexanol and ubiquinone. Screening of antimutagenic activities using the STY involves problems with toxicity. In several cases in this study mutagenicity was decreased below the control level without signs of toxicity in the background growth of bacteria. Since the survival of mutants and slight bacteriostatic effects on the background growth cannot be determined accurately in the STY, a reduction in mutagenicity may simply be due to toxicity. Only in cases where a dose-response curve declines to a level at or above the background and then levels off, can toxicity be excluded. An antimutagenic effect determined using this test system is therefore often not sufficient for classifying a compound as antimutagenic until these findings are confirmed in other test systems and, preferably, the mechanism behind this effect is clarified. The results obtained with the selenium compounds were considered to be inconclusive since the reduction in the mutation rate declined below the background level and might only reflect the toxic effects of these compounds. For ellagic acid an almost complete inhibition of the mutagenicity of CSC and SNUS in STY was indicated. This indication of antimutagenicity was confirmed in V79 cells using two metabolites of the CSC constituent benzo[a]pyrene, i.e., trans-7,8-dihydroxy-7,8-dihydrobenzo[a]pyrene and (+)-7 beta, 8 alpha-dihydroxy-9 alpha, 10 alpha-oxy-7,8,9,10- tetrahydrobenzo[a]pyrene (BPDE). Chlorogenic acid and (+)--catechin reduced the mutagenicity of CSC and chlorogenic acid also strongly inhibited SNUS mutagenicity. Scopoletin and rutin trihydrate inhibited the mutagenicity of CSC, but showed confounding effects with SNUS.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Antimutagenic Agents

Changes in ornithine decarboxylase activity and polyamine levels in response to eight different forms of selenium.

The biological activity of selenium is known to depend on its chemical form. In this study, eight forms of selenium that differed in oxidation state or degree of methylation were studied for their acute effects on the activities of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) and S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase (AdoMet DC) and on the concentrations of the polyamines putrescine, spermidine, and spermine in the liver. The polyamine pathway was studied because it is involved in the control of cell growth and in the cell's response to trophic, carcinogenic, and toxic stimuli, activities that selenium has been reported to affect. Female Sprague Dawley rats were administered 12 mumol Se/kg body weight via intraperitoneal injection and were sacrificed six hours later. Injection of sodium selenate, sodium selenite, selenomethionine, Se-methylselenocysteine, selenobetaine, and selenobetaine methyl ester resulted in significant increases in liver selenium, whereas injection of dimethylselenoxide and trimethylselenonium chloride did not. ODC activity and AdoMet DC activity were induced by those selenium compounds that also increased liver selenium content, but the magnitude of enzyme induction by those compounds was not correlated with the hepatic concentration of total selenium determined fluorometrically. Furthermore, the induction of ODC activity by the various forms of selenium did not result in concomitant increases in putrescine, spermidine, and spermine except in the case of selenite. Given that alterations in the metabolism of selenium are induced when the level of tissue selenium is elevated and that the relative abundance of various selenometabolites can be affected by the point of entry of selenium into intermediary metabolism, these data suggest that the changes that were observed in enzyme activities and polyamine levels are likely to be associated with the accumulation of a specific metabolite of selenium. The relevance of these findings to elucidation of the biological activities attributable to various forms of selenium is under investigation.

Adenosylmethionine Decarboxylase

Interaction of vitamin C and selenium supplementation in the modification of mammary carcinogenesis in rats.

The objectives of this study were a) to compare the efficacy of inorganic and organic selenium compounds in protecting against mammary tumorigenesis induced by 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene [(DMBA); CAS: 57-97-6] in rats and b) to study the interaction of vitamin C with either selenite (inorganic) or seleno-DL-methionine (organic) in chemoprevention. Control Sprague-Dawley rats were fed a purified 5% corn oil diet containing 0.1 ppm selenium. Selenite or seleno-DL-methionine was added to the basal diet in concentrations of 2, 3, or 4 ppm starting 1 week after DMBA administration. The inhibitory response in mammary tumorigenesis with selenium supplementation was dose dependent. Both selenium compounds were found to be equally efficacious in prophylaxis, although at the 4-ppm level a slight reduction in growth was observed. In the second experiment, different concentrations of vitamin C (0.2, 0.5, and 1%) were tested. In general, there was no change with the two lower levels; but a slight, although insignificant, increase in tumor yield was detected in rats supplemented with 1% vitamin C in the diet. The interaction of 0.5% vitamin C with either selenite or seleno-DL-methionine (3 ppm) was studied in the third experiment. Results showed that the protective effect of selenite in tumorigenesis was nullified by vitamin C, whereas the chemopreventive action of seleno-DL-methionine was not affected. It is possible that selenite is reduced by vitamin C to elemental selenium and is therefore not available for uptake by tissues. This hypothesis was indirectly supported by tissue selenium measurements showing that 0.5 or 0.25% of vitamin C in the diet completely negated in blood, liver, and mammary gland the accumulation of selenium induced by 3 ppm of selenite supplementation. Lower levels of vitamin C (less than or equal to 0.1%) were found to have no effect on tissue selenium concentrations. Furthermore, the presence of 0.1% vitamin C in the diet no longer abolished the anticarcinogenic effect of selenite. This study suggests that high levels of vitamin C can interfere with the accumulation of tissue selenium and that an increased titer of this trace element in cells is essential for retarding tumor development.

9,10-Dimethyl-1,2-benzanthracene