Pharmacokinetics of selenium following oral administration selenium preparation in rabbits.

The aim of study was to investigate the bioavailability of selenium after oral administration of selenium yeast. As a reference preparation was used sodium selenite. The preparations were investigated in rabbits, according to a randomized two way crossover design in the fasted state. Each animal was given selenium preparation in the form of the single oral dose 0.5 mg Se/kg body weight. A washout period of one week separated both treatment periods. The selenium concentration was determined in serum spectrofluorometry. The divalent equation of one-compartment model was the simplest formula describing the course of selenium changes in serum of rabbits and giving the pharmacokinetic parameters. Pharmacokinetic variables (mean maximum plasma concentration, mean time to reach maximum plasma concentration, and the mean area under the plasma concentration-time curve) were not statistically different for the two preparations. It can be concluded that the two selenium preparations are likely to be bioequivalent.