Biochemistry of Selenium

1. Forms of Selenium.- 1.1 Low Molecular-Weight Compounds.- 1.1.1 Selenocysteine.- 1.1.2 Selenocystine.- 1.1.3 Selenohomocystine.- 1.1.4 Se-methylselenocysteine.- 1.1.5 Selenocystathionine.- 1.1.6 Selenomethionine.- 1.1.7 Se-methylselenomethionine.- 1.1.8 Dimethyl Selenide.- 1.1.9 Dimethyl Diselenide.- 1.1.10 Trimethyl Selenonium.- 1.1.11 Elemental Selenium.- 1.1.12 Selenotaurine.- 1.1.13 Selenocoenzyme A.- 1.1.14 Other Compounds.- 1.2 Macromolecular Forms of Selenium.- 1.2.1 Formate Dehydrogenase.- 1.2.2 Glycine Reductase.- 1.2.3 Nicotinic Acid Hydroxylase.- 1.2.4 Xanthine Hydrogenase.- 1.2.5 Thiolase.- 1.2.6 Glutathione Peroxidase.- 1.2.7 Miscellaneous Selenoproteins.- 1.2.8 Seleno-tRNA's.- 11.11 References.- 2. Selenium Deficiency Diseases in Animals.- 2.1 Introduction.- 2.2 Dietary Liver Necrosis and Factor 3.- 2.2.1 Discovery.- 2.2.2 Pathology.- 2.2.3 Biochemical Defect.- 2.2.4 Hepatosis Dietetica.- 2.3 Nutritional Muscular Dystrophy.- 2.3.1 Pathology.- 2.3.2 Prevention of NMD.- 2.4 Exudative Diathesis.- 2.5 Pancreatic Degeneration.- 2.6 Mulberry Heart Disease.- 2.7 Reproductive Problems.- 2.8 Myopathy of the Gizzard.- 2.9 Growth.- 2.10 Selenium-Responsive Unthriftiness of Sheep and Cattle.- 2.11 Periodontal Disease of Ewes.- 2.12 Encephalomalacia.- 11.11 References.- 3. Metabolism of Selenium.- 3.1 Absorption.- 3.2 Placental Transfer.- 3.3 Mechanism of the Antioxidant Action of Selenium.- 3.4 Effect of Paraquat.- 3.5 Effect on Cytochrome P-450.- 3.6 Selenium and Hepatic Heme Metabolism.- 11.11 References.- 4. Comparative Metabolism and Biochemistry of Selenium and Sulphur.- 4.1 Introduction.- 4.2 Comparative Metabolism of Selenium and Sulphur.- 4.2.1 Microorganisms.- 4.2.2 Plants.- 4.2.3 Animals.- 4.3 Comparative Biochemistry of Selenium and Sulphur.- 4.3.1 Selenopersulfide as an Electron Transfer Catalyst.- 4.3.2 Iron-Sulphur Proteins.- 4.3.3 Sulphur Salts and Selenium Toxicity in Animals.- 4.3.4 Other Selenium-Sulphur Interactions.- 11.11 References.- 5. Biological Interactions of Selenium with Other Substances.- 5.1 Cadmium.- 5.1.1 Pathological Effects.- 5.1.2 Cadmium-Zinc Interactions.- 5.1.3 Cadmium-Selenium Interactions.- 5.1.4 Effect on Drug Response.- 5.2 Arsenic.- 5.3 Copper.- 5.4 Silver.- 5.5 Cobalt.- 5.6 Manganese.- 5.7 Lead.- 5.8 Mercury.- 5.8.1 Inorganic and Organic Mercury.- 5.8.2 Tissue Distribution.- 5.8.3 Properties of the Mercury-Selenium Complex.- 5.8.4 Teratogenicity.- 5.9 Thallium.- 5.10 Tellurium.- 5.11 Vanadium.- 5.12 Bismuth.- 5.13 Other Substances.- 11.11 References.- 6. Environmental Occurrence of Selenium.- 6.1 Geochemistry of Selenium.- 6.2 Soil Selenium.- 6.3 Uptake and Concentration of Trace Elements in the Roots, Stems, and Leaves of Plants.- 6.4 Forage Selenium.- 6.5 Selenium in Water.- 6.6 Selenium in Food.- 6.7 Intakes and Recommended Daily Allowance in Humans.- 6.8 Regulations in Regard to Animal Diets.- 11.11 References.- 7. Toxicity of Selenium.- 7.1 Introduction.- 7.1.1 Acute Toxicity.- 7.1.2 Blind Staggers.- 7.1.3 Alkalai Disease.- 7.1.4 Toxicity in Rabbits.- 7.1.5 Toxicity in Hamsters.- 7.1.6 Toxicity in Sheep.- 7.1.7 Toxicity in Rats.- 7.1.8 Effect of Diet on Toxicity.- 7.1.9 Biochemical Lesions.- 7.1.10 LD50 of Various Selenium Compounds.- 7.2 Industrial Medical Aspects.- 7.2.1 Occupational Hazards.- 7.2.2 Permissible Limits for Selenium Exposure.- 7.2.3 Toxicity in Humans.- 11.11 References.- 8. Selenium in Health and Disease.- 8.1 Selenium and Cancer.- 8.1.1 Skin Cancer.- 8.1.2 Liver Cancer.- 8.1.3 Colon Cancer.- 8.1.4 Breast Cancer.- 8.1.5 Tracheal Cancer.- 8.1.6 Chemotherapeutic Effect of Selenium.- 8.1.7 Epidemiological Relationship.- 8.1.8 Selenium Blood Levels in Cancer Patients.- 8.1.9 Selenium as a Carcinogen.- 8.2 Selenium and Mutagenesis.- 8.2.1 Antimutagenicity.- 8.2.2 Mutagenicity.- 8.3 Selenium and Immunity.- 8.3.1 Effect of Selenium on Humoral Immunity.- 8.3.2 Cell-Mediated Immunity.- 8.3.3 Nonspecific Immune Effects of Selenium.- 8.4 Selenium and Dental Caries.- 8.5 The Anti-Inflammatory Properties of Selenium.- 8.6 Selenium and Heart Disease.- 8.6.1 Animals.- 8.6.2 Humans.- 8.7 Selenium and Aging.- 8.8 Cystic Fibrosis.- 8.9 Multiple Sclerosis.- 8.10 Cataracts.- 8.11 Other Diseases.- 8.12 Radioselenium as a Diagnostic Agent.- 11.11 References.- 9. Synthetic Forms of Selenium and Their Chemotherapeutic Uses.- 9.1 Anti-Infective Agents.- 9.1.1 Antibacterial.- 9.1.2 Antiviral.- 9.2 Antifungal Agents.- 9.3 Antiparasitic Agents.- 9.4 Compounds Affecting the Central Nervous System.- 9.4.1 Hypnotics.- 9.4.2 Analgesics and Local Anesthetics.- 9.4.3 Tranquilizing Drugs.- 9.5 Compounds that Affect the Autonomic Nervous System.- 9.6 Compounds that Affect the Circulatory System.- 9.7 Anti-Inflammatory Compounds.- 9.8 Antihistamines.- 9.9 Anticancer Agents.- 9.10 Antiradiation Agents.- 9.11 Steroids.- 9.12 Selenocoenzyme A.- 9.13 Selenium-Containing Carbohydrates.- 9.14 Seleno-Amino Acids.- 11.11 References.- 10. Analytical Methods of Selenium Determination.- 10.1 Introduction.- 10.2 Sample Preparation and Storage.- 10.3 Destructive Analysis.- 10.3.1 Ashing.- 10.3.2 Closed-System Combustion.- 10.3.3 Wet Digestion.- 10.3.4 Measurement of Selenium.- 10.4 Nondestructive Analysis.- 10.4.1 Neutron Activation Analysis.- 10.4.2 X-Ray Fluorescence Analysis.- 10.4.3 Proton-Induced X-Ray Emission.- References.