SELENIUM CONTENT IN SOME EGYPTIAN FOODS

Abstract

In the four decades since the recognition of its nutritional essentiality, the element selenium (Se) has attracted the growing interest of the biomedical community. The element was first appreciated for its practical value in preventing nutritional myopathies and vascular disorders in Livestock. It was the recongition of selenium's role in glutathione peroxidase m 19731 ; preceded by recognition of its

essentiality in the prevention of liver necrosis in vitamin-E deficient rats<7l that finally brought attention to the nutritional importance of this element althoug our understanding of the function of selenium is still incomplete. The discovery that selenium deficiency or toxicity could lead to human disease first initiated interest in its role in human health. This has been stimulated by report that selenium supplementation could reverse symptoms of Keshan's Disease in China23 , and

findings oflow intakes in other regions of the world4. Current research is focused on the function of selenium in the body, with what compounds it is associated, and how it is incorporated.