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Review
. 2022 Sep 16;12(9):874.
doi: 10.3390/metabo12090874.

Seleno-Metabolites and Their Precursors: A New Dawn for Several Illnesses?

Cristina Morán-Serradilla  1 , Eduardo Angulo-Elizari  1 , Andreina Henriquez-Figuereo  1 , Carmen Sanmartín  1 , Arun K Sharma  2   3 , Daniel Plano  1
Affiliations
Review

Seleno-Metabolites and Their Precursors: A New Dawn for Several Illnesses?

Cristina Morán-Serradilla et al. Metabolites. .

Abstract

Selenium (Se) is an essential element for human health as it is involved in different physiological functions. Moreover, a great number of Se compounds can be considered potential agents in the prevention and treatment of some diseases. It is widely recognized that Se activity is related to multiple factors, such as its chemical form, dose, and its metabolism. The understanding of its complex biochemistry is necessary as it has been demonstrated that the metabolites of the Se molecules used to be the ones that exert the biological activity. Therefore, the aim of this review is to summarize the recent information about its most remarkable metabolites of acknowledged biological effects: hydrogen selenide (HSe-/H2Se) and methylselenol (CH3SeH). In addition, special attention is paid to the main seleno-containing precursors of these derivatives and their role in different pathologies.

Keywords: CH3SeH-precursors; H2Se-precursors; bioactive agents; cancer; cardiovascular diseases; neurodegenerative diseases; selenium; seleno-metabolites.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Schematic representation of the presence of several selenoproteins in different organs of the human body.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Metabolic pathways of some Se-containing compounds that are the precursors of H2Se and CH3SeH.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The possible underlying mechanism by which Na2SO3 boosts the recovery of the neurological function of rats with spinal cord injury through GPx4 [107].
Figure 4
Figure 4
SeMet can improve the mitochondrial function in a model of AD through the upregulation of SELENO O, which is present in the mitochondria [290].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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