Anticarcinogenic effect of selenium in rats treated with dimethylbenz[a]anthracene and fed different levels and types of fat.

The present investigation reports the effect of selenium supplementation on 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA)-induced mammary carcinogenesis in rats fed either a 5% or a 25% corn oil diet. A reduction in tumorigenesis in both groups was observed with 2.5 p.p.m. of dietary selenium. Selenium supplementation also inhibited the development of hyperplastic alveolar nodules in the mammary gland subsequent to DMBA treatment. In addition, the appearance of mammary neoplasia was reduced by selenium in rats fed a high-saturated fat diet (coconut oil), indicating that the type of fat consumed did not influence the antitumorigenic effectiveness of selenium. The lack of a correlation between the anticarciongenic efficacy of selenium and its ability to suppress lipid peroxidation in the mammary tissue of rats fed either a high-saturated fat or a high-unsaturated fat diet suggests that the inhibitory action of selenium is probably not mediated by its antioxidant function in lipid metabolism