Selenite (Se⁴⁺) has been found to counteract the neurotoxicity of methylmercury (MeHg) in MeHg-poisoned rats. However, Se⁴⁺ has narrow range between its toxic and beneficial effects. Nanoelemental selenium (SeNPs) was found to be less toxic than other forms of Se such as Se⁴⁺. In this study, the effects of SeNPs on the load of mercury (Hg) in rats were investigated. Hyphenated technique based on size-exclusion chromatography coupled with UV and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (SEC-ICP-MS) detection and synchrotron radiation X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (SR-XRF) were used to analyze the Hg-Se-containing proteins in the serum from MeHg-poisoned rats. The Hg-Se-containing fractions monitored by UV and ICP-MS were further characterized by MALDI-TOF-MS. Elevated serum Hg and Se levels were found in MeHg-poisoned rats after SeNPs treatment. Three main Hg-containing bands with molecular weights (MWs) of 25, 62 and 140 kDa were detected in the control samples. Treatment with SeNPs increased the Hg content in proteins at 62 and 170 kDa and decreased the Hg content at 25 kDa. The fraction with 25 kDa was assigned to metallothioneins (MTs), and fractions with 40 and 75 kDa were assigned to albumin. This study showed that the low-toxicity SeNPs could reduce the Hg load in the tissues and promote the formation of high molecular weight Hg- and Se-containing proteins in MeHg-poisoned rats.

已发现亚硒酸盐（Se ⁴⁺）可抵消甲基汞（MeHg）对MeHg中毒大鼠的神经毒性。然而，Se ⁴⁺在其毒性作用和有益作用之间具有狭窄的范围。发现纳米元素硒（SeNPs）的毒性低于其他形式的硒，例如Se ⁴⁺。在这项研究中，研究了SeNPs对大鼠中汞（Hg）含量的影响。采用基于排阻色谱联用紫外光和电感耦合等离子体质谱（SEC-ICP-MS）检测和同步辐射X射线荧光光谱（SR-XRF）的联用技术分析了Hg-Se中的蛋白质。甲基汞中毒大鼠的血清。通过MALDI-TOF-MS进一步表征了通过UV和ICP-MS监测的含Hg-Se馏分。经SeNPs处理后，MeHg中毒大鼠血清Hg和Se水平升高。在对照样品中检测到三个主要的含Hg的带，分子量（MWs）为25、62和140 kDa。用SeNPs处理可增加62 kDa和170 kDa时蛋白质中的Hg含量，并降低25 kDa时Hg的含量。将具有25 kDa的馏分分配给金属硫蛋白（MTs），将具有40和75 kDa的馏分分配给白蛋白。这项研究表明，低毒性的SeNPs可以降低MeHg中毒大鼠组织中的Hg含量，并促进高分子量Hg和Se蛋白质的形成。