Influence of arsenic on selenium metabolism and glutathione peroxidase activity in rats

Arsenic accumulated to the greatest extent in blood followed in decreasing order by kidney, hair and liver in rats fed with various levels of arsenic. Within the intracellular fractions of the liver, arsenic accumulated to the greatest extent in the nuclear fraction, followed by cytosol, mitochondria and microsomes in decreasing order. Increasing arsenic significantly increased the deposition of 75Se-selenite in heart and testis but had no effect in blood, liver, spleen or kidney and significantly increased the excretion of 75Se in feces with a concomitant decrease in urinary excretion. Within the hepatic intracellular fractions, arsenic significantly altered only the 75Se content of the microsomes. Arsenic had no effect upon the glutathione peroxidase activities in blood, kidney or testes, but depressed this activity and the stable selenium content in liver.