Effects of selenium supplement on the de novo biosynthesis of glycerolipids in the isolated rat heart

Synaptic Membrane Synthesis in Rats Depends on Dietary Sufficiency of Vitamin C, Vitamin E, and Selenium: Relevance for Alzheimer's Disease

Chronic consumption of a diet enriched with nutritional precursors of phospholipids, including uridine and the polyunsaturated fatty acids, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), was shown previously to enhance levels of brain phospholipids and synaptic proteins in rodents. Vitamin C, vitamin E, and selenium may directly affect the breakdown or synthesis of membrane phospholipids. The present study investigated the necessity of antioxidants for the effectiveness of supplementation with uridine plus DHA and EPA (as fish oil) in rats. Rats were randomized to four treatment groups and received, for 6 weeks, one of four experimental diets, i.e., a diet low in antioxidants, a diet high in antioxidants, a diet low in antioxidants supplemented with DHA+EPA+uridine, or a diet high in antioxidants supplemented with DHA+EPA+uridine. On completion of dietary treatment, rats were sacrificed, and brain levels of phospholipids, synaptic proteins, and two enzymes involved in phospholipid synthesis (choline-phosphate cytidylyltransferase, PCYT1A, and choline/ethanolamine phosphotransferase, CEPT1) were analyzed. Levels of phospholipids, the pre- and post-synaptic proteins Synapsin-1 and PSD95, and the enzymes PCYT1A and CEPT1 were significantly enhanced by combined supplementation of DHA+EPA+uridine and antioxidants and not enhanced by supplementation of DHA+EPA+uridine with insufficient antioxidant levels. Our data suggest that dietary vitamin C, vitamin E, and selenium are essential for the phospholipid precursors' effects on increasing levels of membrane phospholipids and synaptic proteins, the indirect indicators of synaptogenesis. Their concomitant supply may be relevant in Alzheimer's disease patients, because the disease is characterized by synapse loss and lower plasma and brain levels of phospholipid precursors and antioxidants.

Effect of selenium supplementation on biological constants and antioxidant status in rats

Oxygen-derived free radicals are currently suspected to be widely involved in the aetiology of several clinical disorders. In animals as well as in man, antioxidant trials are often undertaken to prevent oxidative stress. Among antioxidant molecules selenium has been largely studied. This study shows that plasma Se level is not a good index of Se status in the organism, at least at high levels of selenium. Red blood cell Se seems to be a more reliable index of Se status and could replace plasma Se level in the supplementation trials both in animals and humans. Se supplementation did not result in a significant decrease in oxidative stress markers as evaluated by blood and tissue malondialdehyde contents in healthy animals. Furthermore, heart function was altered and plasma Alanine aminotransferase activity was significantly increased in the selenium-supplemented group, which could reflect a slight subtoxic effect of selenium supplementation at the level used here. In view of the results presented, the maximum selenium content in animal diet in selenium supplementation experiments should not be higher than 2 mg/kg.