Abstract
Selenium is an essential component of more than two dozen enzymes and other selenoproteins that play critical roles in reproduction, DNA synthesis, thyroid hormone metabolism, and protection from oxidative damage and infection. Selenium has a protective action against some forms of cancer and cardiovascular diseases, modulates levels of inflammatory mediators, promotes to maintain bone homeostasis and protects against bone loss. Selenium significance as a cardioprotective agent may be associated not only with its antioxidant properties, but also with its ability to prevent inflammation, autophagy, as well as the intrinsic and extrinsic apoptosis pathways. Signaling pathways, such as p-AMPK, PARP, Nrf2, STAT, are involved in the protective effects of selenium. Selenium protects against cardiovascular damage by increasing the survival rate of cardiomyocytes, including a mitochondria-dependent pathway and autophagy through peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors. Research demonstrating neuroprotective and cardioprotective effects of selenium preparations – selenoline, selenocysteine and selenomethionine – is growing at a rapid rate. It has been established that these compounds are able to normalize the levels of heat shock proteins (HSP70), which limit the cytotoxic effects of free radicals, produce energotropic action, prevent a decrease in the membrane mitochondria charge, and the opening of the mitochondrial pore. Also regulate the expression of transmembrane factors NF-kB, c-fos, which is associated with their main biological function of chaperone proteins, providing protection of neurons from damage. In this review, we want to emphasize pharmacological role of Selenium and its derivatives on human health is very complex and has yet to be fully understood.
Highlights
Selenium, the 34th element of the periodic table placed in the subgroup VIA, is the electronic and chemical analogue of sulfur, a multifunctional nutrient element
Selenoprotein P, a selenium-rich plasma protein, is a glycoprotein that plays an important role in selenium metabolism
Decreased selenoprotein P expression is associated with dietary selenium deficiency
Summary
The 34th element of the periodic table placed in the subgroup VIA ( called chalcogen group), is the electronic and chemical analogue of sulfur, a multifunctional (e.g. antioxidant, antineoplastic, antidiabetic, antimicrobial) nutrient element. Classical symptoms of dietary selenium deficiency in farm and laboratory animals were characterized in the 1950s to 1960s, and selenium supranutrition was found to have anti-cancer properties without affecting healthy cells and cancer mortality in the 1990s (Alhasan et al 2019). Many studies report that selenium has a protective effect against some forms of cancer, cardiovascular disease mortality, regulates the inflammatory mediators in asthma, maintains bone homeostasis and protects against bone loss. Antioxidant properties of selenium preparations have been widely studied and discussed in a number of recent review articles (Rahmanto and Davies 2012; Steinbrenner and Sils 2013; Solovyev 2015; Gandin et al 2018; Talbi et al 2019; Chen et al 2020; Kuria et al 2020; Wang et al 2020). Selenium is widely used in industry for the manufacture of several products, such as semiconductors, photovoltaic cells (due to its ability to convert light energy into electrical energy), rectifiers, corrosion-resistant alloys, pigments (red and orange color) for paints, ceramics, glass-making process and pharmaceutical substances for the creation of mono-drugs and complex drugs, which have a wide spectrum of action (Rahmanto and Davies 2012)
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