Oral selenium inhibits skin reactions to UV light in hairless mice.
In different experimental systems oral selenium has a pronounced anti-carcinogenic effect. This includes both spontaneous and chemically-induced cancers (1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8). Our primary objective was to study the effect of selenium on the carcinogenic potential of UV light in hairless mice. Fairly early in these experiments, however, it became obvious that the selenium-supplemented mice were considerably more resistant to the acute and sub-acute effects of UV light than were the unsupplemented animals. This was found for the inflammatory reaction as well as for the development of pigmentation. As far as we know, this effect of selenium has not previously been described.
D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D051379:Mice; D008812:Mice, Hairless; D009381:Neoplasms, Radiation-Induced / Q000517:prevention & control*; D012643:Selenium / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012867:Skin / Q000473:pathology; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000517:prevention & control*; D012880:Skin Pigmentation / Q000187:drug effects; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays
D012643:Selenium