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Selenium Content and Glutathione Peroxidase Activity of Milk from Vegetarian and Nonvegetarian Women^{1, 2, 3}

Bogdan Debski, Dorothy Ann Finley^**, Mary Frances Picciano^,*, Bo Lönnerdal^** and John Milner^,

Department of Food Science Division of Nutritional Sciences ^* Division of Foods and Nutrition, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801 ^** Department of Nutrition, University of California, Davis, California 95616

The concentration of selenium (Se) in milk samples obtained from 26 lacto-ovo-vegetarian (vegetarian) women was significantly greater (22.2 ± 0.8 ng/ml) than from 12 nonvegetarian women (16.8 ± 1.3). Mean GSH-Px activity (EC 1.11.1.9) in milk from vegetarians was 146% of that in milk from nonvegetarians. A significant correlation between GSH-Px activity and Se concentration was observed (r = 0.76). Likewise a significant correlation was observed between milk linoleic acid content and GSH-Px activity (r = 0.68). In undialyzed samples from vegetarian women, most of the increased content of Se was found in fractions containing proteins of 100 kdaltons (kD) or more. The high glutathione peroxidase activity in milk from vegetarians was associated with selenoproteins in the 90 to 100 kD range. A distinct 40 kD Se peak was also detected in milk from vegetarians. There was no difference in Se intake between the two groups of women. Therefore, although data from the present study show that both the quantity and distribution of Se in human milk can be modified by the maternal diet, the increased Se content and GSH-Px activity in milk from vegetarians cannot be explained by an increased Se intake.

KEY WORDS: • selenium • glutathione peroxidase • milk • selenoproteins • lactation • vegetarian

¹ Address all correspondence and reprint requests to: Dr. John A. Milner, Division of Nutritional Sciences University of Illinois, 455 Bevier Hall, 905 S. Goodwin Ave., Urbana, IL 61801.

² Supported in part by NICHD grant #18689 and the Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station.

³ This work was completed while Dr. Debski was a visiting professor at the University of Illinois and on leave from Warsaw Agricultural University, Animal Biochemistry Division, Warsaw, Poland.

Manuscript received 1 August 1988. Revision accepted 6 September 1988.