Fluoride-selenium interaction in the hard and soft tissues of the rat.

The interaction of dietary fluoride and selenium in the hard and soft tissues of rats was studied by providing drinking solutions containing 50 ppm F, as NaF, alone or plus 1 or 3 ppm Se as one of the following selenium compounds: NaSeO3, Na2SeO4, DL-selenomethionine, or DL-selenocystine. The following parameters were measured: symptoms of selenium toxicity, soft tissue uptake of fluoride and selenium, histology of liver and kidney tissues, fluoride uptake into growing femur bones, and fluoride uptake onto calcified molar enamel. No evidence was found that fluoride interacted with any of the four selenium compounds.