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Maternal selenium status and neuropsychological development in Spanish preschool children
Rubén Amorós1, Mario Murcia2, Llúcia González3
1Foundation for the Promotion of Health and Biomedical Research in the Valencian Region, FISABIO, Av. Catalunya 21, 46020 Valencia, Spain; School of Mathematics, University of Edinburgh, Peter Guthrie Tait Road, EH9 3FD Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
Insights
Maternal selenium (Se) status shows an inverse U-shaped link with child neurodevelopment. Both low and high Se levels may negatively impact cognitive and motor skills in children, especially those not breastfed.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Health
- Neuroscience
- Pediatrics
Background:
- Maternal selenium (Se) status is crucial for child neurodevelopment, but its non-linear effects are understudied.
- Previous research indicated an inverse U-shaped association between maternal Se and infant neurodevelopment at 12 months.
- This study investigates these non-linear associations at preschool age, considering potential effect modifiers.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the non-linear relationship between maternal selenium status and child neurodevelopment at preschool age.
- To evaluate the modifying effects of breastfeeding, child's sex, and cord blood mercury on this association.
Main Methods:
- A cohort of 490 mother-child pairs from the Spanish INMA Project (2003-2012) was analyzed.
- Child neuropsychological development was assessed around age 5 using the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities (MSCA).
- Maternal serum selenium levels were measured in early pregnancy using ICP-MS.
Main Results:
- No linear association was observed between maternal Se concentrations and most MSCA scales.
- Generalized additive models revealed inverted U-shaped relationships between Se levels and verbal and global memory scales.
- Breastfeeding modified the Se-neurodevelopment association, with inverted U-shaped effects on multiple cognitive and motor scales observed only in non-breastfed children.
Conclusions:
- Both low and high maternal selenium concentrations may be detrimental to child neuropsychological development.
- Further research is warranted to fully elucidate the complex, non-linear relationship between maternal Se status and child neurodevelopment.
- Breastfeeding appears to play a significant role in mitigating potential adverse effects of maternal Se status on child development.
Background:
The relationship between maternal selenium (Se) status and child neurodevelopment has been scarcely assessed. In a previous study we observed an inverse U-shaped association between maternal Se concentrations and infant neurodevelopment at 12 months of age. In this study, this non-linear association was explored at preschool age. The effect modification by breastfeeding, child's sex and cord blood mercury was also evaluated.
Methods:
Study subjects were 490 mother-child pairs from the Spanish Childhood and Environment Project (INMA, 2003-2012). Child neuropsychological development was assessed at around 5 years of age by the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities (MSCA). Sociodemographic and dietary characteristics were collected by questionnaire at the first and third trimester of gestation and at 5 years of age. Se was measured in serum samples by ICP-MS at the end of the first trimester of pregnancy (mean ± standard deviation (SD) = 12.4 ± 0.6 weeks of gestation).
Results:
The mean ± SD of maternal serum Se concentrations was 79.9 ± 8.1 µg/L. In multivariate analysis, no linear association was found between Se concentrations and the nine MSCA scales. Generalized additive models indicated inverted U-shaped relationships between Se concentrations and the verbal and global memory scales. When assessing the influence of effect modifiers, breastfeeding played a role: the association between Se and neuropsychological development was inverted U-shaped for the quantitative, general cognitive, working memory, fine motor, global motor and executive function scales only for non-breastfed children.
Conclusion:
Low and high maternal Se concentrations seem to be harmful for child neuropsychological development, however further studies should explore this non-linear relationship.
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