JV Task - 116 Selenium's Role in the Seafood Safety Issue

摘要

Continuing studies under these three funded projects - (JV Task 77 The Health Implications of the Mercury-Selenium Interaction, JV Task 96 Investigating the Importance of the Mercury-Selenium Interaction, and JV Task 116 Selenium's Role in the Seafood Safety Issue) - were performed to determine the effects of different levels of dietary mercury and selenium on the growth and development of test animals, and related tissue analyses, to understand the protective benefits of dietary selenium in reference to low-level exposure to mercury. Maternal exposure to methylmercury from seafood has been found to cause neurodevelopmental harm in children. However, significant nutritional benefits will be lost if fish consumption is needlessly avoided. The results of these studies support the hypothesis that intracellular Se itself is the physiologically important biomolecule and that the harm of mercury toxicity arises when Hg abundance becomes great enough to bind a significant portion of intracellular Se in vulnerable tissues such as the brain. Formation of HgSe limits bioavailability of Se for synthesis of Se-dependent enzymes, particularly in brain tissues. When production of these enzymes is impaired, the loss of their numerous essential functions results in the signs and symptoms of Hg toxicity. The finding that one mole of Se protects against many moles of Hg indicates that its beneficial effect is not due to sequestration of mercury as HgSe but rather due to the biological activity of the Se.