Higher selenium concentrations may reduce death risk in T2D patients

Greater concentrations of selenium appear to lower all-cause and heart disease mortality among individuals with type 2 diabetes (T2D), suggests a study.

The authors prospectively examined the association of serum selenium concentrations with all-cause and heart disease mortality among 3,199 adults with T2D from the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III) and NHANES (2003‒2004, 2011‒2014).

Mortality was linked to the National Death Index mortality data. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95 percent confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using Cox proportional hazard models.

The median concentration of serum selenium was 127.0 µg/L (interquartile range, 115.0‒139.1). A total of 1,693 deaths occurred, including 425 due to heart disease, during a mean follow-up of 12.6 years.

The multivariate-adjusted HRs for participants in the highest vs lowest quartile was 0.69 (95 percent CI, 0.54‒0.89) for all-cause mortality (p_trend=0.002) and 0.66 (95 percent CI, 0.45‒0.99) for heart disease mortality (p_trend=0.03). A linear dose‒response association was also observed between serum selenium (range, 89‒182 µg/L) and mortality.

Notably, a 64-percent lower risk of all-cause mortality and a 66-percent lower risk of heart disease mortality (p<0.05 for both) were noted for per-unit increase in natural log-transformed serum selenium. Results were similar when stratified by age, sex, race, smoking status, body mass index, physical activity, diabetes duration, and HbA1c concentrations.

“More studies are needed to confirm these findings,” the authors said.