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Effect of Various Dietary Factors on the Deposition of Selenium in the Hair and Nails of Rats^1,2,

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Human Nutrition Research Center, Vitamin and Mineral Nutrition Laboratory, Beltsville, MD 20705

Noninvasive techniques to monitor selenium (Se) status at higher intake levels should be developed if Se supplements are to be given to human subjects as possible anti-cancer agents. Hair and nails have been suggested as indices of Se status because they are easily obtained, transported and stored. However, there has been little research on the potential influence of such factors as dietary Se intake or nutritional status on the levels of Se in hair and nails. Here we report the effects of chemical form of dietary Se and of methionine (Met) status on the Se content of rat hair and nails. Rats were fed diets containing 0.5, 1.5 or 2.5 µg/g of Se as sodium selenate (Na₂SeO₄) or L-selenomethionine (SeMet) for 8 wk. Hair and nail Se retention was two- to threefold greater when dietary SeMet was fed. Hair and nail Se levels increased as liver and muscle Se retention increased in rats fed SeMet, whereas in rats fed Na₂SeO₄, hair, nails and liver accumulated Se but muscle Se levels remained relatively unchanged. In a second experiment, rats were fed diets containing 0.1, 0.5 or 2.5 µg/g of Se as Na₂SeO₄ or SeMet, ± added Met (0.3%) for 6 (+Met) or 7 (-Met) wk. Hair and nail Se retention was greater when Met was deficient than when this amino acid was not limiting. These results suggest that factors other than dietary Se intake affect hair and nail Se content and that these tissues should be used with caution for Se status assessment purposes.

KEY WORDS: • L-selenomethionine • selenate • selenium status • rats

¹ Supported in part by National Cancer Institute Interagency Agreement No. Y01-CN-40620.

² Preliminary reports of this research were presented at the 71st Annual Meeting of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, Washington, D.C., March 29–April 2, 1987, and at the 72nd Annual Meeting of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, Las Vegas, NV, May 1–5, 1988 [SALBE, A. D. & LEVANDER, O. A. (1987) Hair and nails as indicators of selenium (Se) status in rats fed elevated dietary levels of Se as L-selenomethionine (SeMet) or sodium selenate (Na₂SeO₄). Fed. Proc. 46: 1153; SALBE, A. D. & LEVANDER, O. A. (1988) Effect of dietary methionine on hair and nail selenium (Se) content in rats fed elevated levels of Se as sodium selenate (Na₂SeO₄) or L-selenomethionine (SeMet). FASEB J. 2: A1089].

³ To whom reprint requests should be addressed.

Manuscript received 3 July 1989. Revision accepted 8 November 1989.