title: Are some major in vivo effects of gold related to microenvironments of decreased selenium?
abstract: Gold interacts with selenium in vivo, and the normal distribution of selenium among tissues and subcellular compartments changes. Literature evidence shows that many of the effects of gold compounds on the polymorphonuclear neutrophil, macrophage, and lymphocyte cellular components of the immune system are similar to effects observed in these cellular components in selenium-deficient animals. Affected by these two metals are immune functions related to phagocytic cell migration, phagocytosis, microbial killing, lymphocyte mitogenesis/DNA synthesis, arachidonic acid metabolism/prostaglandin synthesis, and immunoglobulin production. The interaction of gold with selenium in vivo may be responsible for some of the multiparameter-based actions of gold compounds used in the treatment of inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. One mechanism by which gold exerts its clinical effects may be related to its interaction with selenium to produce, in specific microenvironments, decreased levels of this essential trace element.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000917:Antibody Formation; D016718:Arachidonic Acid; D001095:Arachidonic Acids / Q000378:metabolism; D006046:Gold / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology*; D008264:Macrophages / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology*; D009504:Neutrophils / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology*; D010587:Phagocytosis / Q000187:drug effects; D011453:Prostaglandins / Q000096:biosynthesis; D012643:Selenium / Q000172:deficiency / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D001095:Arachidonic Acids; D011453:Prostaglandins; D016718:Arachidonic Acid; D006046:Gold; D012643:Selenium