In vitro differential effects of sodium selenite on the growth of human hepatoma cells and human embryonic liver cells.

The effects of various concentrations of Na2SeO3 on human hepatoma cells and human embryonic liver cells was investigated in vitro. For human hepatoma cells, mitotic index and cell count decreased with increasing selenium concentrations. At 1 μg/mL Na2SeO3, mitotic activity of human hepatoma cells were partially arrested. In human embryonic liver cells continuously treated with Na2SeO3, (1 μg/mL) cell count of the treated group decreased only by d 7; mitotic index, labeled index, and mean silver grain number per 50 labeled nuclei were the same as in the control group on exposure to 1, 3, and 5 μg/mL for up to 72 h. In mixed cultures of human hepatoma and embryonic liver cells treated with 3 and 5 μg/mL of Na2SeO3 for 24 h, hepatoma cells showed vacuolated cytoplasms, distorted nuclei, condensed chromatin, and even pyknosis, whereas the embryonic liver cells retained a normal morphology under the same treatment.