Se Injection Research Articles

Uptake of75Se in cataractous rat lens proteins

The purpose of the present study was to measure the pattern of uptake of(75)Se into proteins in normal rat lenses and into the proteins of lenses with selenite-induced cataract. Ten-day-old suckling rats received a single injection of(75)Se with or without a cataractous dose of cold carrier sodium selenite. Four days after injection, the proteins from excised lenses were counted for(75)Se radioactivity and subjected to gel permeation chromatography, amino acid analyses, and mass spectrometry. All three soluble crystallin lens proteins took up(75)Se in both normal and cataractous lenses. However, cataractous lenses did not take up(75)Se into a soluble protein in which major quantities of(75)Se were taken up in normal rats. Futhermore,(75)Se in the gamma-crystallins was associated with an unusual acidic amino acid. It was concluded that selenium metabolism by lens proteins may be unusual compared to other soft tissues.

Effects of Selenium Administration on Erythrocyte and Blood Plasma Glutathione Peroxidase Activity in Goats

The activity of glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px, E.G. 1.11.1.9.) was determined in heparinized whole blood, blood plasma and washed erythrocytes from goats before and up to 4 weeks after the administration of selenium (0.4 mg/10 kg BW) and vitamin E (20 mg/10 kg BW) or only vit. E (20 mg/10 kg BW). It was found that Se administration caused a significant increase in enzyme activity in whole blood and washed erythrocytes first detected 2 weeks after the intramuscular injection of Se. No changes were observed in plasma from the treated animals. Minor and insignificant changes were seen in the vit. E treated control animals. It is concluded that GSH-Px activity in blood plasma or serum is of no value as a short-term indicator of the selenium status of goats but whole blood is a good indicator of the long-term status.

Influence of injected selenium in dairy bulls on blood and semen selenium, glutathione peroxidase and seminal quality.

A 9 month study was conducted to determine the influence of selenium (Se) injections on blood and semen Se and glutathione peroxidase (GSII-Px) levels in bulls that were moderately Se-deficient. The effects of Se injections on semen production and quality were also examined. Five Holstein bulls were assigned to either a Se or no Se treatment based on their pretreatment seminal production and quality characteristics. Three bulls were given i.m. injections of 5, 10, 20, or 40 mg Se as sodium selenite per 90 kg BW at 6, 16, 22, and 28 weeks, respectively, after initiation of the experiment. Two bulls received sham injections at the same times and served as controls. Blood samples were collected weekly from each bull and assayed for GSII-Px and selenium. Semen was collected 3 times weekly from each bull and assayed for GSII-Px activity in the seminal plasma. Thirteen weeks after initiation of the experiment, semen from each bull was analyzed for Se on a weekly basis. Ejaculates from each bull were evaluated for volume, concentration of spermatozoa, percentage of motile spermatozoa, percentage of intact acrosomes and spermatozoal morphology immediately postcollection. Post-thaw semen quality was determined from two ejaculates from each bull per week. Frozen semen was thawed, incubated for 4 h at 37#{176}C, and spermatozoa were evaluated for post-thaw percentage of motile spermatozoa and percentage of intact acrosomes. Selenium injections increased blood Se (P<0.05), blood GSII-Px (P<O.005), semen Se(P<0.06), and seminal plasma GSII-Px (P<0.05). Blood Se and GSFI-Px did not increase until after the 10mg injection. Seminal plasma GSH-Px appeared highly sensitive to changes in Se status since enzyme levels tripled within 48 h following the 5 mg injection. Subsequent increases in seminal plasma GSII-Px were observed with each Se injection. Neither postcollection nor post-thaw semen quality was influenced by Se injections.

Uterine contractions and electrical activity in ewes treated with selenium and vitamin E.

The effects of selenium (Se) and vitamin E (E) on uterine contractions and electrical activity were investigated in 40 yearling Dorset ewes. Control ewes were deficient in Se and E, while remaining ewes received periodic injections of Se, E or Se + E. The number of contractions of the uterine horns was recorded for a 10 mm interval in anesthetized estrous ewes. Contractions recorded as moving were visible as constrictions that moved lengthwise along the horn toward the oviduct, cervix, or in neither direction (to be defined later). Number of contractions migrating toward the oviduct was greater (P<0.01) in Se- and Se + E-treated ewes (41.6 and 43.2, respectively). Total number of contractions was greater (P<0.05) in Se- and Se + E-treated ewes (75.7 and 73.5, respectively) than in control ewes (58.5). In estradiol-17#{216}(E2-17#{216})-treated ovariectomized ewes, number of contractions migrating toward the oviduct was twofold greater (P<0.01) in Se- and Se + E-treated ewes (30.6 and 30.4, respectively) than in control and E-treated ewes (15.8 and 12.2, respectively). An eleetromyographic record was constructed for each uterine horn of E2-170-treated ovariectomized ewes for the determination of mean amplitude of electrical activity, number of electrical spikes per minute, and velocity of uterine contractions. Mean amplitude for the two hours combined was greater (P<0.01) in Se- than in E-treated ewes; however, mean amplitude in these groups was not different from mean amplitude of control ewes. Velocity of contractions was greater (P<0.05) in Se- and Se + E-treated ewes (17.9 and 18.9 mm/see, respectively) than in control and E-treated ewes (11.0 and 8.0 mm/see, respectively). These results indicate that selenium is more important than vitamin E in influencing uterine motility and contraction velocity but does not appear to influence the number of electrical spikes per minute or the mean amplitude of these spikes.

RESPONSE FROM COPPER AND SELENIUM WITH VITAMIN E INJECTIONS TO CATTLE PASTURED ON MINERAL AND ORGANIC GROUNDWATER SOILS

An experiment, using a total of 127 cattle on one ranch over a 2-yr period and 82 cattle at two separate locations on a second ranch in 1 yr, tested injections of copper (Cu) and injections of selenium (Se) with vitamin E, separately and in combination. Injections of 100 mg Cu as copper calcium edetate resulted in an increased overall daily gain of 118 g or 22%. The injections of Se and vitamin E did not significantly increase gain and there was no synergistic effect when the two materials were given together. The crude protein, inorganic sulfate, S, P, Ca, K, Mg, Cu, Mo, Fe, Mn, Zn, and B concentrations were determined on grass from the experimental pastures and from grass growing in fields around one ranch. These latter forages were collected in seven paired locations with one member forage of each set being harvested from an organic groundwater soil and the other from an adjacent clay soil where there was good drainage. Forage growing on well-drained soils had a Cu/Mo ratio of 1.9, which was almost treble the 0.7 ratio found in forage grown on the groundwater soil. Cu levels in hair from cattle on ranch B, given only Cu injections, averaged 13.4 ppm Cu on an oven-dry weight basis, which was 54% higher in Cu than hair from the control cattle. The mean concentration of Se in hair of cattle receiving Se with vitamin E was 60 ppm, which was not significantly different from the control at 58 ppm.

Measuring albumin turnover rates in patients with hypoproteinemia. A microtechnique.

A microimmunoprecipitation technique was reliably used to study the mechanism of hypoproteinemia in severely malnourished infants. The appearance of radiolabeled albumin in serum over a 24-hour period after the injection of selenomethionine Se 75 was studied in seven hypoproteinemic patients with excessive protein loss into the gastrointestinal or genitourinary tract or with severe liver disease. A unique pattern of albumin production, distinct from that of control patients, was noted for each hypoproteinemic group.

Selenomethionine Se 75 Scanning

To the Editor:— Toole and Witcofski ( 198 :1219, 1966) reported visualizing a thymoma by photoscanning 24 and 48 hours following injection of selenomethionine Se 75. During the past three years we have performed such photoscans in more than 30 patients with proved primary hyperparathyroidism, and noted uptake in the mediastinum ( Figure). None of these patients had a thymoma, yet the scan was often indistinguishable from the authors' scan of a patient with thymoma. We have reported the high uptake of 75 Se over the mediastinum and suggested that it may be caused by selenomethionine Se 75 localized in bone marrow ( J Nucl Med 5 :417, 1964 ). Since there is a relatively large pool of blood containing 75 Se labeled plasma proteins under this area, the scanner probably detects the blood pool as well. We urge that caution be exercised in interpreting selenomethionine Se 75 scans of the upper chest area.