Effect of selenium on hypothyroidism induced by methimazole (MMI) in lactating rats and their pups

The present study was undertaken to assess the effect of selenium (Se) on hypothyroidism induced by methimazole (MMI) in lactating rats and their pups. Rats were randomly divided into four groups of six each: group I served as a negative control which received standard diet; group II received orally MMI (250 mg L–1); group III received both MMI (250 mg L–1, orally) and Se (0.5 mg/kg of diet); group IV served as a positive control and received Se (0.5 mg Na2 SeO3 /kg of diet). Treatments were started from the 14th day of pregnancy until postnatal day 14. In the MMI-exposed group, the body weight of 14-dayold pups diminished compared to controls; besides, a hypertrophy of the thyroid glands was observed. Co-administration of Se through the diet restored these parameters to near normal values. In the MMItreated group, thyroid iodine contents and plasma thyroid hormone levels significantly decreased, while plasma TSH levels increased in pups and their mothers. These biochemical modifications corresponded histologically to closed follicles, increased vascularity and a reduction in colloid volume. Co-treatment with Se ameliorated these parameters. We concluded that the supplementation of Se in diet had beneficial effects on hypothyroidism during a critical period of life

An Automated System for the Segmentation of Dynamic Scintigraphic Images

This paper presents a novel system for the automatic segmentation of Dynamic Scintigraphic Images (DSI). DSI allow a functional exploration of the studied structure and therefore a good understanding of the pathological phenomenon. The proposed system aims at achieving high accuracy of the segmentation process for a precise calculation of the renal functions and the ventricular ejection fraction, thus speeding up the clinical diagnosis and decision-making. The proposed method combines the Fast Marching Method (FMM) and HOG3D spatiotemporal descriptor with the supervision of a Multi Agent System (MAS). Our MAS is composed of a set of supervisor and explorer agents able to detect the regions of interest from a video sequence of scintigraphic images captured over time. The behavior of communicating supervising and exploring agentsis inspired from the Active contour technique. This automatic segmentation system is expected to assist physicians in both clinical diagnosis and educational training. The results of the application of our method on several dynamic images are presented and discussed

Lipid peroxidation, proteins modifications, anti-oxidant enzymes activities and selenium deficiency in the plasma of hashitoxicosis patients

Objectives: The aim of this study was to explore the oxidative stress profile in hashitoxicosis (HTX) and to compare it with that of healthy subjects. Patients and methods: Spectrophotometric methods were used to evaluate the oxidative stress markers. The selenium level was investigated by atomic absorption. Results: High levels of thiobarbituric acid reactive species (TBARS) and conjugated dienes were found in HTX patients ( p = 0.034 and p = 0.043, respectively) compared with healthy controls. For antioxidant enzymes, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase activities increased, whereas that of glutathione peroxidase (GPx) decreased ( p = 0.000, p = 0.014, p = 0.000, respectively) compared with controls. A reduction in the level of selenium ( p = 0.029) and thiol groups ( p = 0.008) were shown in patients; however, levels of carbonyl group and malondialdehyde (MDA) protein adducts decreased ( p = 0.000) compared with controls. Positive correlation was shown between levels of free thyroxine (FT4) and TBARS ( r = 0.711, p = 0.048) and between FT4 level and SOD activity ( r = 0.713, p = 0.047). Conversely, GPx activity presented a negative correlation with FT4 and free triiodothyronine (FT3) levels ( r = –0.934, p = 0.001; r = –0.993, p = 0.000, respectively). In addition, GPx activity showed positive correlation with selenium level ( r = 0.981, p = 0.019) and the FT3 level correlated negatively with the level of thiol groups ( r = –0.892, p = 0.017). Conclusions: This study shows the presence of an oxidative stress and selenium deficiency in HTX patients and suggests that the hyperthyroid state is strongly implicated in the establishment of this disturbed oxidative profile