Influence of sodium selenite on lactate dehydrogenase patterns and several antioxidants in tissues of carnivorous mammals

The article is concerned with the effect of nontoxic dose of dietary supplementation of sodium selenite on the lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) patterns, activities of antioxidant enzymes superoxidedismutase (SOD) and catalase, glutathione (GSH) content and lipid peroxidation (LPO) level in six tissues (liver, kidney, heart, lung, spleen and skeletal muscle) of three carnivores (American mink, silver and blue foxes), bred in captivity. Selenium supplementation did not change the LDH patterns in tissues of mink and silver fox, but caused the decrease in LDH-1 and LDH-2 contents in liver, kidney and heart and the increase in LDH-4 and LDH-5 in kidney and heart. In minks fed on sodium selenite, the activities of antioxidant enzymes did not change, but GSH level increased in kidney, lung and spleen and decreased in skeletal muscle. In silver foxes fed the sodium selenite, SOD activity increased in liver and kidney, catalase activity increased in kidney and lung, GSH level decreased in heart and increased in spleen. In blue foxes, no significant differences in antioxidant levels were found between control and experimental groups. Selenium supplementation did not influence the intensity of LPO in all studied animals’ tissues except for mink kidney where LPO decreased. Our results indicate species and tissue specific effect of nontoxic dose of dietary selenium on the studied species.