Due to selenium-deficient soil in this region,
lambs and calves, which graze in meadows and are placed in a somewhat high
position on the food chain, had a relatively high rate of WMD. It showed a white
color symptom with calcified skeletal and cardiac muscle resulting from the
abnormal deposition of calcium phosphate (hydroxyapatite) and ultimately resulted
in early death by a muscular weakness and cardiomuscular degeneration
[2-4]
. In
humans, a myopathy similar to WMD has been reported as Keshan disease, which
is an endemic cardiomyopathy occurring in selenium-deficient regions of China.
Keshan disease has clinical symptoms such as heart hyperplasia and failure,
nausea and vomiting
[5, 6]
. It mostly affects juveniles and women of childbearing
age, and eventually results in premature death. When studying the connection between
selenoproteins and WMD, several authors reported that a selenium-containing
protein with a small molecular weight of about 10 kDa is found at a significantly
lower concentration in WMD animals and patients. As a result, this protein is later
named as the SelW since it may be implicated in WMD.