Selenium alters the lipid content and protein profile of rat heart: an FTIR microspectroscopic study.

Cardiovascular disease is one of the most important causes of morbidity and mortality in Western countries. In addition, it is well documented that selenium (Se) deficiency has been linked to cardiovascular diseases. This study was undertaken to present the effect of sodium selenite on left and right myocardia, and small veins of normal control rat heart at molecular level by using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) microspectroscopy. The results mainly reveal that, Se treatment causes an increase in lipid content both in the saturated and unsaturated lipids, and an alteration in protein profile with a decrease in alpha-helix and an increase in beta-sheet structure of the rat heart which might be reflecting a slight subtoxic effect of selenium supplementation on normal rat heart at the dose used in this study.