Effect of dietary vitamin E or selenium on prostaglandin dehydrogenase in hyperoxic rat lung.

Weanling male rats were fed semi-purified diets supplemented with 0, 60, or 600 IU X g-1 vitamin E or 0, 100 or 1000 ppb selenium. One group was injected daily with vitamin E at a rate equivalent to consumption of 60 IU X kg-1. Animals from all groups were sacrificed after exposure to normobaric oxygen or air for 48 h. Lung tissue was analyzed for the combined activity of prostaglandin dehydrogenase and reductase. Using the decline in enzyme activity as an indicator of susceptibility to oxygen poisoning, protection against hyperoxia was directly related to the level of vitamin E supplementation. Selenium supplemented at 100 ppb provided significant protection when compared to 0 ppb or 1000 ppb. The latter dose may have been marginally toxic. We conclude that dietary supplementation of vitamin E and selenium may influence the relative susceptibility of an animal to pulmonary oxygen poisoning.