Increase in dopamine turnover and tyrosine hydroxylase enzyme in hippocampus of rats fed on low selenium diet.

We have studied the turnover of dopamine, noradrenaline, and serotonin and their metabolites in hippocampus of adult female rats that were fed control or selenium-deficient diets during 15 days. Under these circumstances, there was an increase of dopamine turnover (4-fold) in rats fed with selenium-deficient diet with respect to controls and also an increase in the tyrosine hydroxylase activity (75.8%), which was the result of the increase of the amount of the enzyme (2-fold), without significant change in the phosphorylation of the tyrosine hydroxylase. In addition the glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase, catalase, and superoxide dismutase activities have been studied. After selenium-deficient diet, the enzymatic activities of superoxide dismutase and catalase did not show change with respect to the controls; however glutathione reductase and glutathione peroxidase significantly decreased 15% and 29%, respectively. It is concluded that the increase in dopamine turnover seems to be associated with the induction of tyrosine hydroxylase enzyme. In these conditions the decrease in antioxidant capacity may produce a cascade of events, which accelerates the degenerative process, since the increase in dopamine turnover produces an increase in oxygen radical by monoamine oxidase activity.