Effect of long-term diet enrichment with selenium, vitamin E and vitamin B15 on the degree of fatty infiltration of the liver

In a two-year experiment on 190 Wistar rats the effects were studied of the aging process and diet enrichment with selenium, vitamin E and vitamin B15 (pangamic acid) on the degree of fatty infiltration of the liver determined histochemically with Oil Red O. The degree of fatty infiltration of the liver was assessed by the method of quantitative analysis using a computer image analyser Quantimet 720. System 30 (Cambridge Instruments). The process of aging of the Animals was associated with increasing fatty infiltration of the liver. Selenium had a two-phase effect on the degree of fatty infiltration: in the first 12 months of selenium administration (0.1 ppm of sodium selenite per 100 g of the diet) fatty infiltration of the liver was decreasing, and after 18 months of the experiment this effect disappeared and the degree of fatty infiltration was not different from that in the control group. Contrary to this, vitamin E administration 6 mg/100 g of the diet increased the degree of fatty infiltration during the first 12 months. After 18 months a reverse effect appeared with inhibition of the progression of fatty infiltration. Thus the two-phase effect of vitamin E was a reverse of selenium effect. Addition of vitamin B15 to the diet (2.5 mg/100 g of diet) increased the degree of fatty infiltration of the liver which was maintained at a stable level throughout the whole experiment, i.e. 12-18 months.