Selen pork, a special brand of high selenium pork, containing about ten times the selenium content of traditional pork is being marketed successfully in Korea. Pigs yielding this product are fed Sel-Plex, an organic selenium supplement which contains selenomethionine and other naturally-occurring organic selenium compounds.

A study performed in Spain reported that a combination of supplemental selenium and the antioxidant vitamins E and vitamin C in swine diets helped reduce drip loss and improve the shelf life of fresh pork products. Drip loss is a particular problem in pale, soft and exudative pork. Selenium and vitamins E and C are potential antioxidants. Vitamin E helps prevent lipids in the cell membrane from breaking down. Selenium also appears to protect the cell, preventing the fluid portion of the cytoplasm from breaking down.

In the study, University of Murcia researchers fed pigs 0.1 parts per million supplemental organic selenium. Pork from those pigs showed slightly lower drip loss for up to 120 hours after slaughter (Fig. 1).

The organic forms of selenium are safer and these supplemental selenium sources are more bioavailability as compared to the inorganic forms.

In an additional trial, consumers rated the antioxidant-supplemented pork as juicier and more tender than pork from the control pigs that were not fed organic selenium.

Efficient transfer of dietary selenium through the inclusion of an organic form of the trace element in laying hens’ diets opens up new possibilities for functional eggs providing this essential trace element to an increasingly health conscious world population.

Source: The International Egg Commission Newsletter, June 1999

Selenium and prostate cancer

Family Practice News, November 13, 1998.

A government-sponsored trial, one of the largest ever conducted, will begin late this year to test whether commonly used antioxidants vitamin E and selenium can prevent prostate cancer, as reported by Reuters. The 12-year "SELECT" study, to involve 32,400 men at about 300 research centers in the United States and Canada, will be the biggest prevention trial ever undertaken using a drug or nutrient, said Dr. Scott Lippman, chairman of clinical cancer prevention at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

Dr. Lippman said a large 10-year placebo-controlled U.S. trial began in 1983 to test whether a daily dose of 200 micrograms of selenium could prevent skin cancer. Although the supplementation did not have significant effects on the incidence of skin cancers, the incidence of prostate cancer, colorectal and lung cancers was significantly reduced in subjects taking the supplement as compared to those receiving the placebo. The role of selenium in cancer prevention might be due to its incorporation into one of the body's most potent antioxidants, the enzyme glutathione peroxidase, as reported in several earlier studies.

A new study on elderly subjects shows that micronutrient levels influence the number and function of natural killer (NK) cells - immune cells that defend the body against some tumors. To explore the connection between micronutrients and NK cells, the researchers studied 62 northern Italian men and women who lived independently and who ranged in age from 90 to 106 years. All were in good health, had normal blood test values, and were not taking nutritional supplements or medications that affect the immune system, such as anti-inflammatory drugs or hormones. All were apparently well nourished.

However, the investigators found that many of these individuals had micronutrient deficiencies. The most common deficiency, found in about 50% of both men and women, was in selenium, an essential mineral and antioxidant that protects the heart. Fifty-two percent of the men and 41% of the women were deficient in zinc, which plays a role in wound healing, proper growth, and immune system functioning. Deficiencies were also noted in vitamins A, E, B6, and folate (a type of vitamin B complex), as well as in ubiquinone-10, which is associated with cell functioning.

It was found that higher serum levels of selenium in women corresponded to greater NK-cell activity. In women only, the defensive activity of the NK cells was greater when blood levels of vitamin E and ubiquinone-10 were higher. No other significant associations of micronutrients with NK cells were noted.

Researchers from the University of Miami found that selenium therapy (in the form of the yeast supplement Selenomax) has a strong potential for improving the mental state and well-being of HIV-1 seropositive drug abusers. The one-month pilot study of selenium supplementation in such subjects revealed that Selenomax administration was associated with a decreased risk in the development of depressed-dejected mood state.

Over 95% of the selenium in selenium yeast supplements such as Selenomax is present in the form of L-(+)-Selenomethionine.

According to a recent study, poor nutrition leads to mutations that create more dangerous forms of the influenza virus and may contribute to newly virulent outbreaks of viral epidemics ranging from the common cold to AIDS and Ebola hemorrhagic fever.

In selenium deficient mice, the human influenza virus mutated into more virulent forms. The authors of the study stated that a similar mutation of the virus is likely to occur in humans. In the study, groups of mice with normal and selenium-deficient diets were exposed to Influenza A Bangkok, a mild strain of human influenza virus. Although investigators had expected the malnourished mice to be sicker than the well-nourished ones, they confirmed that the virus also mutated to a greater degree in these mice. The research also confirmed earlier studies into the causes of mutations of a virus, Coxsackie B3, linked to a form of juvenile cardiomyopathy, Keshan disease.

Beck MA, et al. (2001) Selenium deficiency increases the pathology of an influenza virus infection. FASEB J.,15(8):1481-1483.