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Review
. 2022 Jan 18:12:820853.
doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.820853. eCollection 2021.

Effects of Selenium as a Dietary Source on Performance, Inflammation, Cell Damage, and Reproduction of Livestock Induced by Heat Stress: A Review

Yuhui Zheng  1 , Tian Xie  1 , Shengli Li  1 , Wei Wang  1 , Yajing Wang  1 , Zhijun Cao  1 , Hongjian Yang  1
Affiliations
Review

Effects of Selenium as a Dietary Source on Performance, Inflammation, Cell Damage, and Reproduction of Livestock Induced by Heat Stress: A Review

Yuhui Zheng et al. Front Immunol. .

Abstract

Heat stress as a result of global warming has harmful consequences for livestock and is thus becoming an urgent issue for animal husbandry worldwide. Ruminants, growing pigs, and poultry are very susceptible to heat stress because of their fast growth, rapid metabolism, high production levels, and sensitivity to temperature. Heat stress compromises the efficiency of animal husbandry by affecting performance, gastrointestinal health, reproductive physiology, and causing cell damage. Selenium (Se) is an essential nutritional trace element for livestock production, which acts as a structural component in at least 25 selenoproteins (SELs); it is involved in thyroid hormone synthesis, and plays a key role in the antioxidant defense system. Dietary Se supplementation has been confirmed to support gastrointestinal health, production performance, and reproductive physiology under conditions of heat stress. The underlying mechanisms include the regulation of nutrient digestibility influenced by gastrointestinal microorganisms, antioxidant status, and immunocompetence. Moreover, heat stress damage to the gastrointestinal and mammary barrier is closely related to cell physiological functions, such as the fluidity and stability of cellular membranes, and the inhibition of receptors as well as transmembrane transport protein function. Se also plays an important role in inhibiting cell apoptosis and reducing cell inflammatory response induced by heat stress. This review highlights the progress of research regarding the dietary supplementation of Se in the mitigation of heat stress, addressing its mechanism and explaining the effect of Se on cell damage caused by heat stress, in order to provide a theoretical reference for the use of Se to mitigate heat stress in livestock.

Keywords: antioxidant capacity; gastrointestinal microbiome; heat stress; immunity; inflammation; selenium.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The effect of heat stress on livestock and its molecular response. (A) Mitochondrial damage (B) Heat shock proteins (C) Antioxidant system (D) Feed intake.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Sources and forms of selenium in nature and its metabolism and excretion in animals. (A) The source and form of selenium in nature (B) Metabolism diagram of selenium in animals (C) Metabolism and excretion of selenium in animals.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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