Effect of Exogenous Selenium on Alcohol-Induced Oxidative Stress in Rats

The effect of selenium on alcohol-induced peroxidative damages were investigated in rats. A preliminary dose response experiment revealed that rats given 0.05 mg sodium selenite/100 g body weight along with ethanol had the lowest concentrations of lipid peroxides. So this dose was selected for detailed studies. Four groups of male rats were maintained for 45 days as follows: (1) Control group; (2) Ethanol group (900 mg ethanol/100 g body weight/day); (3) Selenium group (0.05 mg sodium selenite/100 g body weight/day); (4) Selenium + ethanol group (0.05 mg sodium selenite/100 g body weight + 900 mg ethanol/100 g body weight/day). Results revealed that alcohol induced significant lipid peroxidation, since the levels of lipid peroxides, hydroperoxides and conjugated dienes were elevated. The activities of scavenging enzyme superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione reductase were reduced. However, supplementation of selenium along with alcohol reduced the lipid peroxidation and enhanced the activities of scavenging enzymes. Alcohol induced elevation of the activities of glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (GOT), glutamic-pyruvate transaminase (GPT), and gamma glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT), were also reduced by the administration of selenium along with alcohol. All these observations indicate that supplementation of sodium selenite protects tissues against alcohol-induced peroxidative damage.