Nutritional availability to rats of selenium in tuna, beef kidney, and wheat

Weanling male rats were fed a selenium (Se)-deficient 40% Torula yeast diet for 4 weeks and were then continued on depletion for another 4 weeks or were repleted with 0.1, 0.2, or 0.3 ppm Se as sodium selenite or 0.2 ppm Se as tuna, beef kidney, or high-Se wheat. There were no significant differences in young red blood cell Se, unfractionated red blood cell Se, or liver Se levels in groups fed diets containing 0.2 ppm Se. Glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activity in young red blood cells was lower in the three groups fed food Se than in the group fed selenite (0.2 ppm Se). Young red blood cell GSH-Px was significantly lower in rats fed tuna than in rats fed wheat. Unfractionated red blood cell GSH-Px was lower in rats fed tuna than in rats fed selenite, but did not differ significantly among groups fed food Se sources. Liver GSH-Px was significantly lower in rats fed tuna than in rats fed kidney, wheat, or selenite. Availability of Se was only 54-58% as great from tuna as from selenite for induction of GSH-Px in liver and in red blood cell populations. Therefore, low availability of Se from fish may have to be considered when assessing Se status of human beings from dietary intake.