SELENIUM DEFICIENCY DOES NOT PROMOTE ACUTE HEPATITIS IN LONG-EVANS CINNAMON (LEC) RATS

To investigate the role of selenium-dependent glutathione peroxidase ( GSH-Px) in the development of hereditary hepatitis, we compared incide nces and grades of acute hepatitis between the Long-Evans cinnamon (LE C) rats fed with selenium-supplemented diet and selenium-deficient die t. Immunoblot analysis revealed that the GSH-Px in erythrocytes from L EC rats fed with selenium-deficient diet was extremely low compared to that from those fed with selenium-supplemented diet. At the age of 28 weeks, the incidence of hepatitis and its lethality in the rats fed w ith selenium-supplemented diet were 85% and 46%, respectively, whereas those in the rats fed with selenium-deficient diet were 47% and 12%, respectively. These results suggest that selenium-deficient status and resultant GSH-Px deficiency does not promote hepatitis but rather has an inhibitory effect on the development of hepatitis in LEC rats. (C) 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.