EFFECTS OF SELENIUM SUPPLEMENTATION ON VIRUS-INDUCED INFLAMMATORY HEART-DISEASE

The effects of 10 wk of selenium (Se) supplementation (5 ppm) in drink ing water on immune responses and resistance to a myocarditic Coxsacki e virus B3 (CB3) infection were studied in female Balb/c mice. Se supp lementation reduced CB3-induced mortality: at day 14 postinoculation, survival was 58% in the Se-treated group as compared to 25% in the unt reated group. Whole-blood glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activity was elevated by 68% (p < 0.001) and Se content in the liver by 24% (p < 0 .001). Red (RBC) and white blood cell (WBC) counts, as well as the num ber of cells in the spleen and thymus, were unaffected. The cellular c ounts of T-lymphocytes (CD4(+), CD8(+)) and natural killer (NK+) cells in the blood were not affected. However, the CD4(+)/CD8(+) ratio (5.2 ) tended to increase after Se supplementation (5.9). The spleen lympho proliferative response to T- and B-cell mitogens were increased by 9 a nd 43%, respectively (ns), in the Se-supplemented group. The total NK cell activity in blood and spleen showed minor increases, but when the activity in the blood was expressed per cell,the increase amounted to 35% (ns) with Se supplementation. The inflammatory and necrotic lesio ns in the ventricular myocardium at 7 and 14 d postinoculation were no t significantly reduced by Se treatment, probably owing to the increas ed survival with Se even of mice with the most pronounced heart damage ; comparable untreated mice were estimated to have died at day 14. Res ults indicate that modest doses of Se can improve immune function, whi ch may increase the general resistance to this viral infection.