Selenium in Kashin-Beck disease areas

Area of Science:

• Nutritional Science
• Environmental Chemistry
• Public Health

Background:

• Kashin-Beck disease is a serious endemic health issue in parts of China.
• Dietary intake of essential trace elements, particularly selenium, is suspected to play a role in its etiology.
• Understanding regional element variations in food is crucial for public health interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantify the daily intake of selenium (Se) and ten other elements in Kashin-Beck endemic and non-endemic areas of China.
• To compare element levels between typical endemic regions and control areas.
• To assess the impact of selenium-supplemented fertilizer on dietary selenium content.

Main Methods:

• Utilized the duplication portion technique for 24-h total diet sampling.
• Determined Ca, Mg, Cu, Fe, Zn, Mn, Al, Sr, Ba, and P using Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry (ICP-AES).
• Quantified selenium using differential pulse catalytic polarography.

Main Results:

• Average Se content in Shanxi endemic areas (0.009 µg/g) was significantly lower than non-endemic areas (0.021 µg/g), with daily intakes of 4.6 vs 10.5 µg.
• In Inner Mongolia, endemic areas showed lower Se content (0.006 µg/g) compared to non-endemic areas (0.017 µg/g), with daily intakes of 3 vs 8.5 µg.
• Application of Se-supplemented fertilizer in endemic areas increased dietary Se content to 0.0336 µg/g, raising daily intake to 16.8 µg.

Conclusions:

• Dietary selenium intake is markedly deficient in Kashin-Beck endemic regions of Shanxi and Inner Mongolia.
• Selenium supplementation via fertilizer effectively increases dietary selenium levels in affected areas.
• These findings support the role of selenium deficiency in Kashin-Beck disease and highlight the potential of targeted selenium supplementation as a preventive measure.