A total of 80 female albino mice were randomly allotted into five groups (n = 16) as follows: (A) normal control, (B) high-fat diet (HFD),; (C) HFD + probiotics (P), (D) HFD + sodium selenite (SS), and (E) HFD + selenium-enriched probiotics (SP). The selenium content of diets in groups A, B, C, D, and E was 0.05, 0.05, 0.05, 0.3, and 0.3 μg/g, respectively. The amount of probiotics contained in groups C and E was similar (Lactobacillus acidophilus 0.25 × 10(11)/mL and Saccharomyces cerevisiae 0.25 × 10(9)/mL colony-forming units (CFU)). The high-fat diet was composed of 15 % lard, 1 % cholesterol, 0.3 % cholic acid, and 83.7 % basal diet. At the end of the 4-week experiment, blood and liver samples were collected for the measurements of lipid metabolism, antioxidative status, histopathological lesions, and related gene expressions. The result shows that HFD significantly increased the body weights and liver damages compared to control, while P, SS, or SP supplementation attenuated the body weights and liver damages in mice. P, SS, or SP supplementation also significantly reversed the changes of alanine aminotransferase (AST), aspartate aminotransferase (ALT), total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), total protein (TP), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalasa (CAT), and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels induced by HFD. Generally, adding P, SS, or SP up-regulated mRNA expression of carnitine palmitoyltransferase-I (CPT1), carnitine palmitoyltransferase II (CPT2), acetyl-CoA acetyltransferase II (ACAT2), acyl-coenzyme A oxidase (ACOX2), and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARα) and down-regulated mRNA expression of fatty acid synthase (FAS), lipoprotein lipase (LPL), peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ), and sterol regulatory element-binding protein-1 (SREBP1) involved in lipid metabolism. Among the group, adding SP has a maximum effect in improving lipid metabolism, antioxidative status, histopathological lesions, and related gene expression in mice fed a HFD.

The effects of selenium-enriched probiotics (SP) on tissue selenium (Se) deposition, glutathione peroxidase-1 (GPx1) activity and mRNA level, and heat shock protein (Hsp) mRNA levels of piglets under heat stress conditions were investigated. A total of 48 crossbred ([Landrace × Yorkshire] × Duroc) piglets were randomly divided into 4 groups and fed a basal diet (Con, 0.16 mg Se/kg) or basal diets with added probiotics (P, 0.16 mg Se/kg), sodium selenite (SS, 0.46 mg Se/kg), or SP (0.46 mg Se/kg), respectively, for 42 days. Three piglets were randomly selected from each group for blood sample collection at days 0, 14, 28, and 42 and for liver, kidney, and spleen sample collection at day 42. The results showed that P, SS, and SP could significantly down-regulate the average mRNA levels of Hsp70 (17.3, 23.7, and 40.1%) and Hsp27 (22.4, 24.4, and 44.7%) of the tissues, respectively (P < 0.05), whereas SS and SP could significantly elevate Se concentration, GPx1 activity and mRNA level (P < 0.05). The maximal effects of these parameters were observed in SP. It was concluded that SP is a feasible dietary supplementation of piglets under heat stress conditions during the summer season.

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