ABSTRACT
Kashin–Beck disease (KBD) is a chronic, endemic osteoarthritis (OA) that occurs in limited endemic areas of China. Low dietary levels of selenium (Se) are thought to be the most important biological and environmental factors causing the disease (Yue et al. 2012). Extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERKs) and C-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) are members of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) family and are activated by environmental stress (Krens et al. 2006). Selenium has been shown to exhibit a variety of biological functions, including antioxidant functions and maintenance of cellular redox balance, yet low levels of Se can lead to oxidative stress and apoptosis.
