Age related changes in the activity of selenoenzymes in mice—Interaction with chalcogen metalloids selenium and tellurium

Abstract

This study was designed to investigate the protective effects of selenium supplementation on patulin-induced neurotoxicity.Mice were subjected to patulin for 8 weeks. Sodium selenite (Na2SeO3) and selenium–methionine (Se–Met) were supplemented with the diet, and we investigated the effects of selenium on patulin-induced neurotoxicity. The animals were randomly divided into 4 groups containing 6–8 mice each. The first group was used as a control, and only physiological saline (0.9%) was injected. The second group was treated with patulin (1 mg/kg) intraperitoneally. The third group was treated with patulin (1 mg/kg) along with a dietary supplementation of Na2SeO3 (0.2 mg Se/kg of diet). The fourth group was treated with patulin (1 mg/kg) plus Se–Met (0.2 mg Se/kg of diet).Patulin treatment increased oxidative damage in the brain, as evidenced by a decrease in non-protein thiol and total thiol groups, along with significant increases in GSSG, reactive oxygen species, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances and protein carbonyl levels. Moreover, the activities of glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and glutathione reductase were inhibited with patulin treatment. Selenium supplementation significantly ameliorated these biological parameter changes. In addition, selenium treatments significantly increased the mRNA levels of GPx-1, GPx-4 and thioredoxin reductase.Our data show that selenium supplementation increases the activity and expression of glutathione-related enzymes and offers significant protection against brain damage induced by patulin.