The effect is described of selenium supplemented in an inorganic and organic form on the innate immune response of goats. Though the phagocytic activity (as a marker of the immune function) was found to be lower in organic-Se-treated group than in control (54.5 +/- 4.32 vs. 60.2 +/- 9.15 %), it did not generally exhibit any significant differences; similarly, no differences were found in the phagocytic index. The production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) was determined using the luminol-enhanced chemiluminescence (CL) (estimated as peak CL, integral CL and a peak time after addition of calcium ionophore A23187, opsonised zymosan (OZP) and phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate as effectors. A significant ROS increase reflected in integral CL and a peak time was found in the inorganic-Se-treated group when OZP was used as activator; other parameters did not exhibit significant changes. The supplementation of Se in inorganic form can thus be seen to influence positively the innate immune system of kids.

Institute of Physiology University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno Czech Republic

Lit.: 22