Abstract
Young guinea pigs were fed a semipurified diet low in selenium (Se) and phospholipid. The blood Se and tissue glutathione peroxidase activity were lowered, electrocardiogram and ultrastructure of the myocardium appeared abnormal, and tissue chromolipids were elevated in guinea pigs fed with this basal diet. Diminished changes, however, occurred in groups receiving supplemental Se. Supplementation of Se resulted in maintenance of the normal level of total phospholipid and the ratio between different phospholipids in the cartilage (Acta Pharmacol. Sinica, 5 (1984) 264-267), but in the heart the ratio was improved only when adequate phospholipid (especially endogenous phospholipid) was given simultaneously. Activity of the membrane binding enzyme was slightly restored by Se supplementation. Only when both phospholipid and Se were given sufficiently did the cytochrome oxidase activity in myocardium and cAMP level in plasma increase markedly, even more than that of the control group.
