Therapeutic Effect of Selenium Nanoparticles, Sorafenib, and Selenium–Sorafenib Nanocomplex in the Lungs and Kidneys of Mice with TAA-Induced HCC

Hepatocellular carcinoma is a primary malignant tumor of the liver, which is a serious health problem due to its aggressive nature, late diagnosis, and metastasis to other organs. We present, for the first time, the mRNA expression patterns of a wide range of genes involved in inflammation, fibrosis, endoplasmic reticulum stress, various forms of cell death, and signaling cascades in the lungs and kidneys of mice with thioacetamide-induced HCC. It is known that HCC often metastasizes to the lungs, and it is also important to understand which pathological processes occur in the kidneys, since the liver and kidneys are key target organs of toxicity. The main goal of this work was to study the pathological processes in the lungs and kidneys in HCC and the effectiveness of selenium nanocomplexes, as well as the well-known drug sorafenib, in mitigating these pathological consequences. These results present a significant contribution to the study of HCC metastasis to the lungs and kidneys and to the development of drugs that are most effective in the late stages of HCC. In addition, a hierarchy of the distribution of the selenium in the liver, kidneys, and lungs was established after the treatment of mice with HCC with selenium nanoparticles and a selenium-sorafenib nanocomplex. These data are important for developing a treatment protocol and determining optimal dosages of the drugs under study, which allows for achieving the desired therapeutic effect and neutralizing the toxic effect of selenium on healthy tissues and organs.