Heart sodium selenite, effects

In 1957, Schwartz and associates showed that the toxic element selenium was also a nutritional factor essential for prevention of the death of liver cells in rats.527 Liver necrosis would be prevented by as little as 0.1 ppm of selenium in the diet. Similar amounts of selenium were shown to prevent a muscular dystrophy called "white muscle disease" in cattle and sheep grazing on selenium-deficient soil. Sodium selenite and other inorganic selenium compounds were more effective than organic compounds in which Se had replaced sulfur. Keshan disease, an often fatal heart condition that is prevalent among childen in Se-deficient regions of China, can be prevented by supplementation of the diet with NaSe03.528 Even the little crustacean "water flea" Daphnia needs 0.1 part per billion of Se in its water.529... 

Table 8.2 Effects of sodium selenite (Se) on mechanical performance of hearts under is-chemia/reperfusion (I/R), or perfused with xanthine plus xanthine oxidase (X + XO), or hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), or subjected to Ca2+ paradox model...

An increased incidence of amyloidosis of the major organs, including the heart, was observed in mice following lifetime exposure to sodium selenate or sodium selenite in drinking water at a level of 0.57 mg selenium/kg/day (Schroeder and Mitchener 1972). This effect was noted in 30% of control mice and 58% (p<0.001) of selenium-treated mice. Data for individual organs were not provided. 

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