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A study on human urine in a high-selenium area of china by 1H-NMR spectroscopy

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Abstract

In this study, high-resolution 600-MHz 1H-NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) spectroscopies were used to compare the urinary metabolic profiles of healthy humans and humans in a high-selenium area of China. NMR biomarkers for renal and liver lesions were observed by comparing the urine 1H-NMR spectra.

In urinary excretion, the concentrations in human urine samples of formate, lactate, acetate, hippurate, and alanine in overexposure to selenium were increased, whereas citrate, creatine, and TMAO excretion were decreased compared with that of the healthy human—some of them even disappeared. An interesting result was the appearance of formate in urine, which has previously been shown to lead to acidosis and chronic renal failure and interfere with the lumen and proximal tubular cells. The level of creatine was associated with the seminal activity. The changes of acetate and citrate may explain the disorder of the cellular energy metabolism caused by selenium, and the changes of other amino acids were a result of the reuptake of these compounds that had been blocked in the glomerulus and proximal tubule. The results elucidate the renal/liver lesion in humans in high-selenium area by 1H-NMR spectroscopy and offer the molecular basic of selenium toxicity.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, People’s Republic of China

    Yu-Shan Zhu, Hui-Bi Xu & Kai-Xun Huang

  2. Institute of Research and Development Se Product of Enshi Autonomous Resion, Enshi, Hubei Province, People’s Republic of China

    Wei-Hong Hu

  3. State Key Laboratory of Magnetism Resonance and Atomic and Molecular Physics, Wuhan Institute of Physics and Math, Chinese Academy of Science, Wuhan, People’s Republic of China

    Mai-Li Liu

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Zhu, YS., Xu, HB., Huang, KX. et al. A study on human urine in a high-selenium area of china by 1H-NMR spectroscopy. Biol Trace Elem Res 89, 155–163 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1385/BTER:89:2:155

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1385/BTER:89:2:155

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