title: Higher selenium status is associated with adverse blood lipid profile in British adults.
abstract: Recent findings have raised concern about possible associations of high selenium exposure with diabetes and hyperlipidemia in the US, a population with high selenium status. In the UK, a population with lower selenium status, there is little data on the association of selenium status with cardio-metabolic risk factors in the general population. We examined the association of plasma selenium concentration with blood lipids in a nationally representative sample of British adults. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 1042 white participants (aged 19-64 y) in the 2000-2001 UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey. Plasma selenium was measured by inductively coupled-plasma mass spectrometry. Total and HDL cholesterol were measured in nonfasting plasma samples. Mean plasma selenium concentration was 1.10 +/- 0.19 micromol/L. The multivariate adjusted differences between the highest (> or =1.20 micromol/L) and lowest (<0.98 micromol/L) quartiles of plasma selenium were 0.39 (95% CI 0.18, 0.60) mmol/L for total cholesterol, 0.38 (0.17, 0.59) for non-HDL cholesterol, and 0.01 (-0.05, 0.07) for HDL cholesterol. Higher plasma selenium (i.e., > or =1.20 micromol/L) was associated with increased total and non-HDL cholesterol levels but not with HDL in the UK adult population. These findings raise additional concern about potential adverse cardio-metabolic effects of high selenium status. Randomized and mechanistic evidence is necessary to assess causality and to evaluate the impact of this association on cardiovascular risk.
authors.affiliation: Health Sciences Research Institute, University of Warwick Medical School, Coventry CV47AL, UK. s.stranges@warwick.ac.uk
authors.forename: Saverio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Stranges
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Laclaustra
authors.forename: Chen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.forename: Francesco P
authors.initials: FP
authors.lastname: Cappuccio
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Navas-Acien
authors.forename: Jose M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Ordovas
authors.forename: Margaret
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rayman
authors.forename: Eliseo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Guallar
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004032:Diet; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006949:Hyperlipidemias / Q000453:epidemiology*; D050356:Lipid Metabolism; D008055:Lipids / Q000097:blood*; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D009752:Nutritional Status; D012643:Selenium / Q000097:blood*; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D008055:Lipids; D012643:Selenium