Contribution of gut microflora on nutritional availability of selenium in host animal

Abstract

Selenium (Se) is one of the essential micronutrients. There are various chemical forms of Se in nature, and animals utilize these selenocompounds as Se sources in meat, fish, and vegetables. Although the nutritional availability of Se depends on their chemical forms, the difference is not fully understood. We demonstrated that the nutritional avail- ability of Se depended on not only their chemical forms but also the administration routes, and gut microflora played an important role in the Se metabolism of a host animal. In this review, we described the nutritional availability of various selenocompounds and the molecular mechanisms underlying the role of gut microflora in the Se nutrition in a host animal.