Selenium status and cardiovascular risk factors in healthy Dutch subjects

To provide further insight into the possible role of selenium in cardiovascular disease, we examined the relationship between cardiovascular risk factors, some nutritional parameters, and short- and long-term selenium status. A total of 82 healthy Dutch volunteers, 59 men and 23 women, aged 40-75 years, were studied. Means and standard deviations of selenium parameters were: plasma selenium 106.4 +/- 23.7 micrograms/L, erythrocyte selenium 0.59 +/- 0.19 microgram/g Hb, toenail selenium 0.78 +/- 0.17 ppm, and erythrocyte glutathione peroxidase activity 28.0 +/- 8.1 U/g Hb. No association was found between selenium status and gender, age, serum total-, LDL-, and HDL-cholesterol, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, alcohol intake, and body mass index. A significantly lower plasma selenium level was observed among smokers compared to nonsmokers (101.0 micrograms/L, SE = 3.9 vs 112.0 micrograms/L, SE = 3.6, p = 0.04). A significant negative association was found between erythrocyte selenium and serum levels of vitamin A and ferritin. No relevant relationship was observed between selenium status and serum fatty acid composition, vitamin E, vitamin B6, and iron. Apart from an association between smoking and short-term selenium status, we found no indications that a possible effect of selenium on cardiovascular disease may operate through the known risk factors.