[Protective effects of selenium on ultrastructural changes in heart muscles with experimental free-glucose and anoxia in organ culture].

Fetal hearts taken from the 16th to 18th day of pregnant mice were cultured in MEM + 0.5 microgram/ml of sodium selenite [Na2SeO3] (MEMS), and in MEM alone with oxygen for 24 hours, and then the two groups of hearts were exposed to 10, 15, 20, 30, 40, 60 min and a long term of anoxia in glucose-free MEMS and glucose-free MEM respectively. Results showed that the survival and beating of the cultured fetal mouse hearts with experimental free-glucose and anoxia were prolonged by selenium. The application of lanthanum as a marker demonstrated that the permeability function of myocardial cell membrane and mitochondrial membrane of early experimental anoxia were protected by selenium. By using electron microscopy when structural damages occurred, it was shown that the time of occurrence of irreversible injuries could be postponed by selenium. From the fact that ribosomes increased in the cell of selenium-treated hearts, we concluded selenium may play a promotive role in the synthesis of protein in experimental free-glucose and anoxic conditions.