Skerfving S
Environ Health Perspect. 1978 Aug;25:57-65. doi: 10.1289/ehp.782557.
The available data on the influence of selenium on the toxicity of methylmercury and of methylmercury on selenium as a nutrient and toxic agent are reviewed. Selenium as selenite has a relative protective effect on acute and subacute toxicity of methylmercury in the rat and the quail. The protective mechanism is far from clear. Of special interest is the fact that selenium-treated animals may remain unaffected, even when they have attained tissue mercury levels otherwise associated with toxic effects. Selenite causes some increase of tissue mercury levels in methylmercury-exposed animals. On the other hand, methylmercury induces a remarkable enhancement of organ concentrations of selenium in animals given selenite. The interaction between selenium and methylmercury is in many ways different from that between selenium and inorganic mercury, and also from that between selenium and other metals. Due to the considerable interspecies differences in the toxicity of methylmercury, the available data do not allow conclusions on interactions in man. Practical implications of a possible protective effect of selenium on methylmercury toxicity in humans are discussed.
本文综述了关于硒对甲基汞毒性的影响以及甲基汞对作为营养素和有毒物质的硒的影响的现有数据。亚硒酸盐形式的硒对大鼠和鹌鹑的甲基汞急性和亚急性毒性具有相对保护作用。其保护机制尚不清楚。特别值得关注的是，即使经硒处理的动物组织汞含量达到通常会产生毒性作用的水平，它们可能仍未受到影响。亚硒酸盐会使甲基汞暴露动物的组织汞含量有所增加。另一方面，甲基汞会使给予亚硒酸盐的动物体内器官的硒浓度显著提高。硒与甲基汞之间的相互作用在许多方面不同于硒与无机汞之间的相互作用，也不同于硒与其他金属之间的相互作用。由于甲基汞毒性存在相当大的种间差异，现有数据无法得出关于人类相互作用的结论。本文还讨论了硒对人类甲基汞毒性可能具有保护作用的实际意义。
