Protective effect of selenium on antioxidant defense system in the blood of rats treated with cadmium

The effects of cadmium (Cd, 15 mg/kg/day) on the blood antioxidant defense system and the possible protective effects of selenium (Se, 7 μg/kg/day) were studied. Chronic Cd administration resulted in increased activities of copper, zinc superoxide dismutase (CuZn SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) in red blood cells (RBC), as well as glutathione S-transferase (GST) activity and vitamin E (Vit E) concentration in the plasma. Se induced a significant increase in GSH-Px and GST activities, as well as concentrations of vitamin C and E. Thus, the mechanism by which Se decreases Cd toxicity in rats, seems to rely on the protection of the antioxidant defense system in blood, possibly by forming non-toxic cadmium selenide. The accumulation of Cd in RBC also decreased significantly upon co-exposure to Se. The obtained results show, that Cd exhibit toxic effects on the antioxidant defense system in the blood of rats and that Se demonstrates the protective effect against Cd toxicity.U ovom radu ispitivan je efekat kadmijuma (Cd, 15 mg/kg/danu) na antioksidacioni zaštitni sistem i moguća zaštitna uloga selena (Se, 7 μg/kg/danu). Posle hroničnog tretmana Cd značajno se povećavaju aktivnosti bakar, cink superoksid dismutaze (CuZn SOD), katalaze (CAT) i glutation peroksidaze (GSH-Px) u crvenim krvnim ćelijama (RBC), kao i aktivnost glutation S-transferaze (GST) i koncentracije vitamina E (Vit E) u plazmi. Selen značajno povećava aktivnosti enzima GSH-Px i GST, kao i koncentracije vitamina C i E. Mehanizam kojim selen smanjuje toksičnost Cd kod pacova odnosi se na zaštitu antioksidacionog sistema u krvi, posebno formiranje ne-toksičnih kadmium-selenita. Akumulacija Cd u RBC takođe je značajno smanjena posle ko-tretmana selenom. Dobijeni rezultati pokazuju da Cd ispoljava toksične efekte na antioksidacioni zaštitni sistem u krvi pacova i da Se pokazuje zaštitni efekat protiv toksičnosti Cd.Projekat ministarstva br. 143035