title: Whole blood selenium content in healthy adults in the Czech Republic.
abstract: Over a 5-year period, from 1996 to 2001, blood selenium levels were recorded in a set of 2414 healthy blood donors (1781 men and 633 women; 880 smokers and 1534 nonsmokers) living in four selected areas of the Czech Republic. About 100 blood samples per year and region were analyzed using the HGA method. The internal and external quality controls of this method were performed throughout the duration of the study. In general, blood selenium concentrations (81.9 and 106.7 microg/l for median and 90th percentile, respectively) did not reach optimum values; in approximately 10% of the population sample, values lower than 60 microg/l were detected. Nonetheless, the values obtained increased significantly, with median concentrations of 73.2 microg/l in 1996 and 91.5 microg/l in 2001. The percentage of subjects with a whole blood selenium level of less than 60 microg/l also decreased from nearly 20% in 1996 to 0.2% in 2001. No substantial regional or gender-related differences were observed, but significantly lower blood selenium levels were found in smokers as opposed to nonsmokers. Although mild selenium deficiency continues to be observed, the data presented do not indicate extremely low selenium levels in the population sample.
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Public Health, Srobárova 48, 100 42 Prague 10, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Batáriová
authors.forename: Milena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cerná
authors.forename: Vera
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Spĕvácková
authors.forename: Mája
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cejchanová
authors.forename: Bohuslav
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Benes
authors.forename: Jirí
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Smíd
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D018153:Czech Republic; D003625:Data Collection; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012016:Reference Values; D012643:Selenium / Q000097:blood* / Q000172:deficiency; D012907:Smoking
chemical_list: D012643:Selenium