Comparison of cupric and sulfate ion effects on chronic selenosis in rats

The ameliorating effects of Cu++ and SO4--ions on concurrent selenite toxicity were compared in two factorial experiments using 60 weanling rats each. In the first experiment, 0, 500 and 1,000 mg Cu (as CuCl2)/kg diet were fed in conjunction with 0, 5, 10 and 20 mg Se (as Na2SeO3)/kg diet. In the second experiment, the treatments were 0, 500 and 1,000 mg SO4 (as Na2SO4)/kg fed in conjunction with 0, 5, 10 and 20 mg Se/kg diet. A paired-feeding experiment using 10, 15 and 20 mg Se/kg diet was also conducted with 28 rats to compare the influence of inanition in control and selenite-fed rats. Cupric++ ion, but not SO4--ion, prevented mortality among selenite-intoxicated rats. There were significant Cu X Se interaction effects on feed intake, daily gain, packed cell volume (PCV), serum Cu and Fe, sperm counts, and weights of liver, kidney and testis. There were main effects of Cu and Se on serum Se and liver Cu. In Exp. 2 there were significant SO4 X Se interaction effects on feed intake, daily gain, serum Cu and testis weight. There were main effects of Se on PCV, sperm count, serum testosterone, liver Se, liver Cu and the absolute weights of liver and kidney. The only main effect of SO4 was that of increased liver Cu concentrations. Among the pair-fed rats, the selenite-fed rats, with one exception, died before their paired rats.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)