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Selenium status in term and preterm infants during the first months of life

A Loui1, A Raab, P Braetter

  • 1Department of Neonatology, Charité Virchow Hospital, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany. andrea.loui@charite.de

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition
|March 22, 2007
PubMed

Insights

Very low birth weight infants have lower selenium levels that decrease over time. Glutathione peroxidase activity is not a reliable indicator of selenium status in infants up to 16 weeks.

Area of Science:

  • Neonatal nutrition
  • Trace element metabolism
  • Pediatric biochemistry

Background:

  • Very low birth weight (VLBW) infants may have insufficient selenium (Se) levels at birth.
  • Current nutritional practices might lead to further decreases in Se concentrations.
  • Low Se levels are suspected to be associated with chronic lung disease and septicaemia in VLBW infants.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate selenium (Se) intake, serum and red blood cell (RBC) concentrations, and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activity in preterm and term infants.
  • To determine how Se levels change from birth up to 16 weeks of age.
  • To assess the relationship between Se status and clinical outcomes like chronic lung disease and septicaemia.

Main Methods:

  • Studied Se intake, serum and RBC Se concentrations, and RBC GSH-Px activity in preterm and term infants from birth to 16 weeks.
  • Included 72 preterm infants (gestational age 26-30 weeks, birth weight 845-1270 g) with low Se intake and 55 term infants (gestational age 39 weeks, birth weight 3160 g) with high Se intake.
  • A balance study in 10 preterm infants assessed Se absorption from human milk.

Main Results:

  • Selenium is well absorbed from human milk (77% in preterm infants).
  • Term infants had significantly higher serum Se concentrations than preterm infants at 4-7 weeks.
  • Serum and RBC Se concentrations declined in all infants; low preterm Se levels did not correlate with chronic lung disease or septicaemia. RBC GSH-Px activity remained stable and was not correlated with RBC Se.

Conclusions:

  • Serum selenium concentration decreases in the initial weeks of life, influenced by dietary intake.
  • Glutathione peroxidase activity is not a reliable biomarker for assessing selenium status in infants up to 16 weeks postpartum.
Abstract

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