PURPOSE Lenses from selenite-treated animals develop reversible "cold cataract" at a lower temperature than is required for lenses from age-matched control animals. This unexplained, stabilized phase transition is readily observed in intact lenses 36 to 48 hours after treatment and occurs in lenses before the appearance of the irreversible nuclear opacity observed 72 to 96 hours after treatment...

Dibutyltin dichloride (DBTC) is an organotin compound used as model for acute and chronic pancreatitis. Oxidative stress is one of the mechanisms of propagation of acinar cell injury in acute pancreatitis. Selenium is an essential cofactor in the antioxidant glutathione peroxidase pathway. Selenium levels are described to be subnormal in patients with acute and chronic pancreatitis. The aim of ...

Effects of intraperitoneal injections of sodium selenite (2.0 and 4.0 mg/kg body weight) to normally cycling female albino Wistar rats daily for 30 days, and of single injection either during proestrous or oestrous and at each stage of the 4-day oestrous cycle were determined on oestrous cyclicity, ovarian follicles, ovulation, implantation and pregnancy outcome on day 14 of gestation. Administ...

PURPOSE To investigate whether electroacupuncture can prevent selenite-induced cataract in an experimental model. METHODS Fifty Wistar rat pups were randomized into 5 groups of 10 animals: Group 1 (control), no procedure was performed; Group 2 (selenite), sodium selenite (30 micromoles/kg body weight) was injected subcutaneously between postpartum days 10 to 12; Group 3 (anesthesia) received ...

Young chicks exhibited a 61% reduction in weight gain when a corn-soybean meal diet was supplemented with 15 mg/kg Se provided as Na selenite. The same level of Se provided as selenomethionine depressed weight gain by 32%. Supplementing the high selenite diet with isoarsenous (14 mg/kg As) additions of As2O5, As2O3, phenylarsonic acid, phenylarsine oxide and roxarsone ameliorated the Se-induced...

A single injection of 20 mumol sodium selenite/kg body weight in 10-day-old rats caused severe nuclear cataract within 4 days. By 4 days postselenite injection, nuclear calcium levels increased from 0.4 to 6.8 mmol/kg lens dry weight. The purpose of these experiments was to determine if this calcium increase was associated with proteolysis specifically in the lens nuclear region. Sodium dodecyl...

Mitochondria of AS-30D rat ascites hepatoma cells are found to be the main target for Zn(2+) and sodium selenite (Na(2)SeO(3)). High [mu]M concentrations of Zn(2+) or selenite were strongly cytotoxic, killing the AS-30D cells by both apoptotic and necrotic ways. Both Zn(2+) and selenite produced strong changes in intracellular generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the mitochondrial dy...

Selective targeting of the PML/RARα oncoprotein demonstrates a successful molecular targeted therapy in acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) with a typical t(15:17) chromosomal translocation. The zinc-thiolate coordination is critical for structural stability of zinc finger proteins, including the PML moiety of PML/RARα. Based on the known interaction of redox-active selenium compounds with thiol...

The aim of this study was to assess the radioprotective effects of sodium selenite on parotid glands in rats by ultrastructural analysis of acinar cells. Four experimental groups were assessed; control, irradiated, selenium, and selenium/irradiated. The sodium selenite dose was 0.5 mg/kg, administered intraperitoneally 24 h before irradiation in the head and neck region with a single 15-Gy dose...

Selenium is both an essential and a toxic trace element, and the range of concentrations between the two is extremely narrow. Although tellurium is not essential and is only rarely found in the environment, it is considered to be extremely toxic. Several hypotheses have been proposed to account for the toxic effects of selenite and tellurite. However, these potential mechanisms have yet to be f...