Selenium Levels in Blood of Upper Silesian Population: Evidence of Suboptimal Selenium Status in a Significant Percentage of the Population

Abstract

The selenium status and the relationship of whole-blood selenium and plasma homocysteine are reported for healthy human subjects living in Upper Silesia. A total of 1063 individuals (627 male and 436 female) examined for whole-blood selenium were subdivided into six groups according to age; the youngest included adolescents (n=143) aged 10-15 yr, and the oldest were centenarians (n=132). The mean Se content was relatively low (62.5+/-18.4 microg/L), and it tended to be higher in men (65.9+/-17.2 microg/L) than in women (57.5+/-18.9 microg/L). Selenium levels appeared to be age dependent, as the highest values were observed in young and middle-age adults (21-40 yr), whereas they were significantly lower in adolescents and in the elderly. In more than 40% of apparently healthy adults (aged 21-69 yr), the Se concentration was within the range 60-80 microg/L (i.e., below the lower limit of the nutritional adequacy range [80 microg/L]). A significant inverse correlation between whole-blood selenium and plasma total homocysteine was detected in a smaller population sample of middle-aged and elderly persons (n=204).

Associations between Serum Selenium and Total Plasma Homocysteine during the Acute Phase of Ischaemic Stroke

“…It was also shown that Se deficiency in experimental animals increases the levels of tHCY [10]. Unfortunately, the data on the effects of Se on plasma HCY in humans are scarce and contradictory [11,12,13]. It is clear that hyperhomocysteinaemia and low levels of Se are likely to be independently related to the impaired antioxidant defence and increase the atherogenic risk.…”

“…A link between Se and tHCY has been found in animals [10]; however, it is difficult to directly implicate these results in humans as other reports in humans are contradictory or inconclusive [11,12,13], especially in view of ischaemic stroke (IS) causation. The possible interactions between these two factors during the acute phase of stroke in humans represent the basis of this report .…”

Effect of selenium status and supplementation with high‐selenium yeast on plasma homocysteine and B vitamin concentrations in the UK elderly

“…Other examples of a significant inverse association between Se status and plasma tHcy were found in an Inuit population [14], in middle-aged and elderly subjects from Upper Silesia [15] and in the UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS) of people aged 65 years and above [16].…”

Epigenetic effects of selenium and their implications for health

“…63 Klapcinska et al similarly detected an inverse correlation between wholeblood Se and plasma HCys in a population with low mean Se status (62.5 mg Se/l blood). 64 While both studies reported similar findings, possible confounders that are known to affect HCys levels, particularly folate and B vitamins, need to be taken into account. In a study where an inverse relationship between Se and HCys was reported for participants of the British National diet and Nutrition Survey aged 65 years, 65 this correlation became insignificant after adjustment for folate, PLP, and vitamin B 12 .…”