Selenium

Menstuff® has compiled the following information on Selenium.

Warning: Selenium may cause diabetes
Using selenium in prostate cancer may help reduce the morbidity of this disease

Warning: Selenium may cause diabetes


Bayer claimed that “emerging research” suggested that the mineral selenium in One A Day might reduce the risk of prostate cancer. But according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, “emerging research” did no such thing. In fact, a seven-year, $118-million study funded by the National Institutes of Health found that selenium does not prevent prostate cancer in healthy men. That massive trial, which involved 35,000 men, was abruptly halted when it became clear to researchers that selenium was not protecting the men from prostate cancer and may have been causing unexplained cases of diabetes.

Using selenium in prostate cancer may help reduce the morbidity of this disease


According to published research from the United States, "A previous controlled intervention trial showed that selenium supplementation was effective in reducing the incidence of prostate cancer. Physiological concentrations of selenium have also been reported to inhibit the growth of human prostate cancer cells in vitro."

"The present study describes the observation that selenium was able to significantly downregulate the expression of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) transcript and protein within hours in the androgen-responsive LNCaP cells," wrote Y. Dong and colleagues, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Department of Surgical Oncology.

"Decreases in androgen receptor (AR) transcript and protein followed a similar dose and time response pattern upon exposure to selenium. The reduction of AR and PSA expression by selenium occurred well before any significant change in cell number. With the use of a luciferase reporter construct linked to either the PSA promoter or the androgen responsive element, it was found that selenium inhibited the trans-activating activity of AR in cells transfected with the wild-type AR expression vector," the researchers wrote.

The researchers concluded: "Selenium also suppressed the binding of AR to the androgen responsive element site, as evidenced by electrophoretic mobility shift assay of the AR-androgen responsive element complex. In view of the fact that PSA is a well-accepted prognostic indicator of prostate cancer, an important implication of this study is that a selenium intervention strategy aimed at toning down the amplitude of androgen signaling could be helpful in controlling morbidity of this disease."

Source: Y. Dong and colleagues published their findings in Cancer Research (Prostate specific antigen expression is down-regulated by selenium through disruption of androgen receptor signaling. Cancer Res, 2004;64(1):19-22). Additional information can be obtained by contacting A.C. Gao, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Department of Surgical Oncology, Elm & Carlton St., Buffalo, NY 14263, USA. The publisher of the journal Cancer Research can be contacted at: The American Association for Cancer Research, 615 Chestnut St., 17TH Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19106-4404, USA. The information in this article comes under the major subject areas of Urology and Oncology.

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