THE LEC RAT POSSESSES REDUCED HEPATIC SELENIUM, CONTRIBUTING TO THE SEVERITY OF SPONTANEOUS HEPATITIS AND SENSITIVITY TO CARCINOGENESIS

The hepatic concentrations of copper, zinc, magnesium, calcium, and se lenium were measured in LEC rats, which develop a spontaneous form of hepatitis at 3-4 months of age, and compared to trace metal concentrat ions in the LEA rat, its asymptomatic congenic strain, Consistent with results found by other groups, copper was found to accumulate within the liver of LEC rats to levels more than 50 times those measured in L EA rats, In addition, liver selenium concentration in LEC rats was fou nd to be around 50% of that in LEA rats, The enzyme activity, and RNA for the selenium dependant enzyme, glutathione peroxidase, was also fo und to be reduced in LEC rat liver, These results indicate that hepati c selenium in the LEC rat is depleted and that, as a result of this, t he capacity to protect cells from copper-induced free-radical damage i s reduced. (C) 1998 Academic Press.