Magnesium and selenium belong to important bioelements. Magnesium is the second most abundant intracellular macroelement, which takes part in the metabolism of carbohydrates, nucleic acids, protein and lipids. Selenium is an essential microelement, whose deficit has been stated in many different pathological states. Much research on safe and effective selenium supplementation has been performed...

An overview highlighting the anti-cancer potential of (bio-essential) seleniumand tellurium-containing species, with an emphasis on biological targets and mechanisms of action, is presented. Studies thus far have focused on selenium(II) compounds (along with – to a lesser extent – inorganic selenium and selenium nanoparticles) which often successfully exploit the inherent anti-oxidizing ability...

Selenium poisoning in humans is reviewed from the perspective of the clinical laboratory. While evaluation of selenium poisoning is straightforward when the analytic results are markedly elevated and the patient is acutely symptomatic, distinguishing toxic from non-toxic elevations is a more frequent issue and more challenging. A significant problem is that selenium is determined as its total c...

The anticarcinogenic activity of selenium in animal models is well established. The active forms of selenium involved have not been identified to date, but conversion of selenium via hydrogen selenide (H2Se) to methylated forms such as dimethylselenide and trimethylselenonium ion is an important metabolic fate. By controlling the entry of selenium into various points within this pathway through...

The available data on the influence of selenium on the toxicity of methylmercury and of methylmercury on selenium as a nutrient and toxic agent are reviewed. Selenium as selenite has a relative protective effect on acute and subacute toxicity of methylmercury in the rat and the quail. The protective mechanism is far from clear. Of special interest is the fact that selenium-treated animals may r...

An experiment was carried out to evaluate and compare the effects of organic and inorganic selenium (Se) sources on broiler male birds (Ross 308). Uniform broiler male chicks divided in to five groups with six replicates were fed with either normal feed (without supplemental Se, negative control), 0.25 ppm of inorganic Se, 0.5 ppm of inorganic Se, 0.25 ppm of inorganic Se + 0.25 ppm of organic ...

Selenium, an element long known to be toxic to living organisms (1, 2), has only recently been implicated as an essential trace element for rats (3), chicks (4,5) and several other animals. The work of Franke (6), Horn et cd. (7), Painter (8, 9), and McConnell (10, 11) established that if toxic amounts of selenium were supplied in various chemical forms to a number of plants, animals, and micro...

Introduction Research efforts have identified groups of people with low selenium intakes and presumed selenium deficiency based on low blood selenium levels. Inhabitants of New Zealand [1], Finland [2], and China [3] often have low blood selenium. Individuals with therapeutic diets low in selenium [4], people undergoing parenteral administration [5] and alcoholics with cirrhosis [6] can also be...

Excess exposure to the metalloid selenium (Se), a trace element with both toxicological and nutritional properties, has been implicated in the etiology of a human motor neuron disease of unknown origin and extremely severe prognosis, sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). This relation has been suggested on the basis of two epidemiologic investigations which found an increased risk of AL...