[Priority of selenium incorporation into selenoproteins during selenium depletion in rats]

Male weanling Wistar rats were fed with either a basal selenium deficient diet (a Torula yeast based semisynthetic diet, containing Se 0.01 mg/kg) or a selenium sufficient diet supplemented with Se as Na2SeO3 (containing Se 0.5 mg/kg). Rats were killed after different weeks(0,1,2,4,8,12,15,17,19,20 and 24 respectively). Their organs were taken to observe the kinetic change of selenium concentration, the activities of intracellular glutathione peroxidase (cGPX), extracellular glutathione peroxidase (eGPX), and phospholipid hydroperoxide glutathione peroxidase (PHGPX) in different organs. The results showed that selenium levels and the activities of selenoenzyme in testis and pituitary were more resistant to selenium deficiency than other organs. During selenium deficiency, the utilization of selenium by PHGPX and deiodinase was prior to eGPX and cGPX, which suggested that the function of PHGPX and deiodinase were more important than that of eGPX and cGPX.