Measurement of trimethylselenonium ion in human urine

A comparison is made between two methods (ion-exchange chromatography vs a difference method) for the quantitative measurement of trimethylselenonium ion (TMSe) in human urine. It is shown that the difference method yields reliable data only if TMSe constitutes a relatively large fraction of urine selenium. Under normal conditions of selenium intake in man, accurate measurement of this important metabolite can, at present, be carried out only with the ion-exchange chromatographic procedure. Preliminary data from a human subject employing stable isotope tracer methodology are given to show that the fraction of urine selenium present as TMSe varies with the level of intake as well as other factors.