Skip to main content

Selenium in health and disease I

The agricultural connection

  • Chapter
Book cover Selenium in Food and Health

Abstract

Our present knowledge of the role of selenium in human health and disease owes much to the work of agricultural scientists. The stimulus which in most cases set these investigators on their way was an economic one—recognition that selenium was responsible for considerable losses to farmers in areas where the element occurred in high concentrations in the soil. Later they came to realise that it was not just selenium toxicity but, on an even more widespread and serious scale, selenium deficiency in agricultural soils that caused economic loss to farmers.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 74.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Japha, A. (1842) Dissertation Halle, as cited by Moxon, A.L. and Rhian, M. (1943) Selenium poisoning. Physiological Review, 23, 305–37.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Madison, T.C. (1860) Sanitary report—Fort Randall, in Statistical Report on the Sickness and Mortality in the Army of the United States, January 1855 to January 1860. US Congress 36th, 1st Session, Senate Exchange Document (ed. Coolidge, R.H.), as cited in Rosenfeld, I. and Beath, O.A. (1964) Selenium Geobotany, Biochemistry, Toxicity and Nutrition, Academic Press, New York, p. 7.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Wolf, E., Kollonitsch, V. and Kline, C.H. (1963) A survey of selenium treatments in livestock production. Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 11, 355–60.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Underwood, E.J. (1977) Trace Elements in Human and Animal Nutrition, 4th edn., Academic Press, New York, pp. 303–45.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Wyoming State Board of Sheep Commissioners (1908) 10th Annual Report, Cheyenne, Wyoming, as cited in Rosenfeld, I. and Beath, O.A. (1964) Selenium Geobotany, Biochemistry, Toxicity and Nutrition, Academic Press, New York, p. 7.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Wyoming Agricultural Experiment Station (1919) 30th Annual Report, Cheyenne, Wyoming, as cited by Rosenfeld, I. and Beath, O.A. (1964) Selenium Geobotany, Biochemistry, Toxicity and Nutrition, Academic Press, New York, p. 7.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Beath, O.A., Draizze, J.H., Eppson, H.F., et al. (1934) Certain poisonous plants of Wyoming activated by selenium and their associations with respect to soil types. Journal of the American Pharmacological Association for Science and Education, 23, 94–7.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Franke, K. W. (1934) A new toxicant occurring naturally in certain samples of plant foodstuffs. I. Results obtained in preliminary feeding trials. Journal of Nutrition, 8, 597–608.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Magg, D.D. and Glen, M.W. (1967) Toxicity of selenium: farm animals, in Selenium in Biomedicine (ed. Muth, O.H., Oldfield, J.E. and Heswig, P.H.), AVI, Westport, CT, pp. 127–40.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Chen, D.M., Nigam, S.N. and McConnell, W.B. (1970) Biosynthesis of Se-methylselenocysteine and S-methylcysteine in Astragalus bisulcatus. Canadian Journal of Biochemistry, 48, 1278–83.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Petersen, P.J. and Butler, G.W. (1967) Significance of selenocystathionine in an Australian selenium-accumulating plant Neptunia amplexicaulis. Nature (London), 213, 599–60.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Peter, D.W. and Costa, N.D. (1992) Selenium in animal production in Australia. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society of Australia, 17, 99–108.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Jaffe, W.G. (1973) Selenium in food plants and feed. Toxicology and nutrition. Qualitas Plantarum. Plant Foods and Human Nutrition, 23, 191–204.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Levander, O.A. and Baumann, C.A. (1966) Selenium metabolism. VI. Effect of arsenic on the excretion of selenium in the bile. Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology, 9, 106–15.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Jaffe, W.G. and Mondragon, M.C. (1969) Adaptation of rats to selenium intake. Journal of Nutrition, 97, 431–6.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Walsh, T., Fleming, S.A., O’Connor, R. and Sweaney, A. (1951) Selenium toxicity associated with an Irish soil series. Nature (London), 168, 881–2.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Subramanian, R. and Muhuntha, A. (1993) Soil-fodder-animal relationship of selenium toxicity in buffaloes, in Trace Elements in Man and Animals—TEMA 8 (eds. Anke, M., Meissner, D. and Mills, C.F.), Verlag Media Touristik, Gersdorf, pp. 498–501.

    Google Scholar 

  18. Hill, J., Allison, F. and Halpin, C. (1985) An episode of acute selenium toxicity in a commercial piggery. Australian Veterinary Journal, 62, 207–9.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Martin, J.L. (1978) Nutrient toxicities in animals and man: selenium, in CRC Handbook Series in Nutrition and Food (ed. Rechcigl, M.) Vol. 1, CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, pp. 309–17.

    Google Scholar 

  20. Vernie, L.N., Bont, W.S., Ginjaar, H.B. and Emmelot, P. (1975) Elongation factor 2 as the target of the reaction product between sodium selenite and glutathione (GSSeSG) in the inhibition of amino acid incorporation in vitro. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta, 416, 283–92.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Ravikovitch, S. and Margolin, M. (1959) Selenium in soils and plants. Empire Journal of Experimental Agriculture, 27, 235–46.

    Google Scholar 

  22. Banueklos, G.S., Cardon, G., Mackey, B., et al. (1993) Boron and selenium removal in boron-laden soils by four sprinkler irrigated plant species. Journal of Environmental Quality, 22, 786–92.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Zayed, A.M. and Terry, M. (1992) Selenium volatilization in broccoli as influenced by sulfate supply. Journal of Plant Physiology, 140, 646–52.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Frost, D.V. (1972) The two faces of selenium—can selenophobia be cured?, in Critical Reviews in Toxicology (ed. Hemphill, D.), CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, pp. 467–83.

    Google Scholar 

  25. Wolf, E., Kollonitsch, V. and Kline, C.H. (1963) A survey of selenium treatment in livestock production. Agriculture and Food Chemistry, 11, 355–60.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Schwarz, K. (1944) Zeitschrift für Physiologsche Chemie, 281, 109.

    Google Scholar 

  27. Schwarz, K. (1951) A protective factor in yeast against liver necrosis in rats. Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine, 78, 852–4.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Schwarz, K., and Folz, C.(1957) Selenium as an integral part of Factor 3 against dietary necrotic liver degeneration. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 78, 3292–3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Patterson, E.L., Milstrey, R. and Stokstad, E.L. (1957) Effect of selenium in preventing exudative diathesis in chicks. Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine, 95, 617–20.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Andrews, E.D., Hartley, W.J. and Grant, A.B. (1968) Selenium-responsive diseases in animals in New Zealand. New Zealand Veterinary Journal, 16, 3–17.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Scott, M.L. (1962) Antioxidants, selenium and sulphur amino acids in the vitamin E nutrition of chicks. Nutrition Abstracts and Reviews, 32, 1–8.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Oldfield, J.E. (1990) Selenium: Its Uses in Agriculture, Nutrition and Health and the Environment, Selenium-Tellurium Development Association, Grimbergen.

    Google Scholar 

  33. Kennedy, O.G., Goodall, E.A. and Kennedy, S. (1993) Antioxidant enzyme activity in the muscles of calves depleted of vitamin E or selenium or both. British Journal of Nutrition, 70, 621–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Allen, J.G., Steele, P., Masters, H.G. and Lambe, W.J. (1992) Lupinosis in sheep, Australian Veterinary Journal, 69, 75–80.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  35. Salisbury, R.M., Edmondson, J., Poole, W.S.H., et al. (1962) Exudative diathesis and white muscle disease of poultry in New Zealand. Proceedings of the 12th World Poultry Congress, 379–84.

    Google Scholar 

  36. Bains, B.S., Mackenzie, M.A. and Mackenzie, R.A. (1975) Selenium deficiency in a commercial poultry operation. Australian Veterinary Journal, 51, 140–5.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  37. Moir, D.C. and Masters, H.G. (1970) Selenium deficiency and hepatosis dietetica in pigs. Australian Veterinary Journal, 55, 360–66.

    Google Scholar 

  38. Gries, C.L. and Scott, M.L. (1972) Pathology of selenium deficiency in the chick. Journal of Nutrition, 102, 1287–92.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  39. Whiteacre, M.E., Combs, G.F., Combs, S.B., et al. (1987) Influence of dietary vitamin E on nutritional pancreatic atrophy in selenium-deficient chicks. Journal of Nutrition, 117, 460–7.

    Google Scholar 

  40. McDonald, J.W. (1975) Selenium-responsive unthriftiness of young Merino sheep in central Victoria. Australian Veterinary Journal, 51, 433–5.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  41. Drake, C. Grant, A.B. and Hartley, W.J. (1960) Selenium in animal health 2. The effect of selenium on unthrifty weaned lambs. New Zealand Veterinary Journal, 8, 7–10.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  42. Wilson, G.F. (1964) Responses in dairy calves to mineral supplements. New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research, 7, 432–3.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  43. Boyne, R., Mann, S.O. and Arthur, J.R. (1984) Effects of Salmonella typhimurium infection on selenium deficient rats. Microbios Letters, 27, 83–7.

    Google Scholar 

  44. Boyne, R. and Arthur, J.R. (1979) Alterations in neutrophil function in selenium deficient cattle. Journal of Comparative Pathology, 89, 151–8.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  45. Arthur, J.R., Boyne, R. and Okolow-Zubkowska, M.J. (1981) The production of oxygen-derived radicals by neutrophils from selenium-deficient cattle. FEBS Letters, 135, 187–90.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  46. Norman, B.B. and Johnson, W. (1976) Selenium responsive diseases. Animal Nutrition and Health, 31, 6–12.

    Google Scholar 

  47. Sheffy, B.E. and Schulz, R.D. (1978) Influence of vitamin E and selenium on immune response mechanisms. Cornell Veterinarian, 68, 89–93.

    Google Scholar 

  48. Turner, R.J. and Finch, J.M. (1991) Selenium and the immune response. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 50, 275–85.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  49. Mulhern, S.A., Taylor, G.L., Macgruder, L.E. and Vessey, A.R. (1985) Deficient levels of dietary selenium suppress the antibody response in first and second generation mice. Nutrition Research, 5, 201–10.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  50. Marsh, J.A., Dietert, R.R. and Combs, G.F. (1981) Effect of dietary selenium and vitamin E on the humoral immunity of the chick. Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine, 166, 228–36.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  51. Turner, R.J. and Finch, J.M. (1990) Immunological malfunctions associated with low selenium-vitamin E diets in lambs. Journal of Comparative Pathology, 102, 99–109.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  52. Langlands, J.P. (1987) Recent advances in copper and selenium supplementation of grazing ruminants, in Proceedings of the Advances in Animal Nutrition Conference, University of New England, May 1987, University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales.

    Google Scholar 

  53. Oldfield, J.E. (1992) Subclinical selenium deficiencies in livestock. Bulletin of the Selenium—Tellurium Development Association, September, 5–6.

    Google Scholar 

  54. Halpin, C., Caple, I.W., Schroeder, P. and McKenzie, R. (1981) 1, in Trace Element Metabolism in Man and Animals (TEMA-4) (ed. Howell, J., Gathorne, J.M. and White, C.L.) Australian Academy of Science, Canberra, pp. 222–5.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  55. Langlands, J.P., Donald, G.E., Bowles, J.E., et al. (1991) Subclinical selenium insufficiency 1. Selenium status and the response in liveweight and wool production of grazing ewes supplemented with selenium. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture, 31, 25–31.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  56. Langlands, J.P., Donald, G.E., Bowles, J.E., et al. (1991) Subclinical selenium insufficiency 2. The response in reproductive performance of grazing ewes supplemented with selenium. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture, 31, 33–5.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  57. Langlands, J.P., Donald, G.E., Bowles, J.E., et al. (1990) Subclinical selenium insufficiency 3. The selenium status and productivity of lambs born to ewes supplemented with selenium. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture, 31, 37–43.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  58. Ekholm, P., Ylinen, M., Eurola, P., et al. (1991) Selenium in Finnish foods after beginning the use of selenate-supplemented fertilisers. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 56, 57–70.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  59. Oldfield, J.E. (1993) Selenium in Fertilisers, Selenium—Tellurium Development Association, Grimbergen, following Meterell, A.K., Owens, J.L. and Mackintosh, C.G. (1985) Strategic grazing of selenium-topdressed pasture as a means of selenium supplementation for sheep, in Proceedings of the Third Australian Agrononomy Conference, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, p. 242.

    Google Scholar 

  60. Gupta, U.C. and Watkinson, J.H. (1985) Agricultural significance of selenium. Outlook in Agriculture, 14, 183–9.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  61. Carter, D.L., Brown, M.J. and Robbins, C.W. (1969) Selenium concentrations in alfalfa from several sources applied to a low-Se, alkaline soil. Soil Science Society of America, Proceedings, 33, 715–8.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  62. Coutts, G., Atkinson, D. and Cooke, S. (1990) Applications of selenium prills to improve the selenium supply to a grass/clover sward. Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis, 21, 951–64.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  63. Korkmann, J. (1987) Selenium in fertilisers. Fertiliser Intl. Publ, No. 248, 9 April, 12–13.

    Google Scholar 

  64. US Food and Drug Administration (1987) Food additives permitted in feed and drinking water of animals: selenium. Federal Register, 52, No. 65, 10887, 21 CFR Part 573.

    Google Scholar 

  65. US Food and Drug Administration (1993) Food Additives permitted in feed and drinking water of animals: selenium; stay of the 1987 amendments; final rule. Federal Register, 58, No. 175, 47962–73.

    Google Scholar 

  66. Gupta, U., Winter, K.A. and Sanderson, J.B. (1993) Selenium content of barley influenced by selenite and selenate-enriched fertilisers. Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis, 24, 1165–70.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  67. Hartley, W.J. (1961) Treatment of selenium deficiency in livestock. New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, 103, 475–80.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  68. Kuttler, K.L., Marble, D.W. and Blincoe, (1961) American Journal of Veterinary Research, 22, 422–29.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  69. Kuchel, R.E. and Buckley, R.A. (1969) Australian Journal of Agricultural Research, 20, 1099–1102.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  70. Meterell, A.K., Owens, J.L. and Mackintosh, C.G. (1985) Strategic grazing of selenium-topdressed pasture as a means of selenium supplementation for sheep, in Proceedings of the Third Australian Agronomy Conference, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, p. 242.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1996 Springer Science+Business Media New York

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Reilly, C. (1996). Selenium in health and disease I. In: Selenium in Food and Health. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-6494-9_3

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-6494-9_3

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4757-6496-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4757-6494-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics