Hepatic selenium concentration in pigs with microangiopathy (mulberry heart disease)--an animal model for the study of oxidative damage.

The significance of selenium deficiency was investigated in pigs that died suddenly of microangiopathy (MAP, mulberry heart disease). Hepatic selenium concentration (mean +/- SD) in pigs with MAP (1.04 +/- 0.47 micrograms/g dry weight) was lower than in healthy pigs (1.23 +/- 0.53 micrograms/g). The lowest hepatic selenium values were found in pigs with MAP and in 22.2% of MAP pigs hepatic selenium concentration was below 0.5 microgram/g which reflects selenium deficiency. Thus, pigs with a low selenium status are at risk of MAP. The low selenium status together with vitamin E deficiency increases oxidative stress and thus contributes to the development of oxidative damage.