Selenium Content of Chick Tissues as Affected by Arsenic

Abstract

The manner in which arsenic corrects the toxic effects of selenium (Moxon, 1938; Rhian and Moxon, 1943; Moxon et al., 1944; Carlson et al., 1954; and Wahlstrom et al., 1955) is not known. However, increased concentrations of selenium in the blood and decreased concentrations in the liver of rats were reported by Palmer and Bonhorst (1957) to be caused by a blockage of the transport of selenium by the arsenic. Kamstra and Bonhorst (1953) had previously reported that arsenic reduced the amount of selenium exhaled by rats, and Krista et al. (1961) found reduced selenium deposition in chicken eggs as the result of feeding arsenic. Ganther and Baumann (1962) recently reported that arsenic increased the excretion of selenium into the gastrointestinal tract and its deposition in the kidney of rats, but decreased blood, liver and carcass selenium contents.Two experiments concerning the effect of dietary arsenic on the selenium content …