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Published on: August 9, 2024
Variation in selenoprotein P concentration in serum from different European regions
E Marchaluk1, M Persson-Moschos, E B Thorling
1Department of Applied Nutrition and Food Chemistry, University of Lund, Sweden.
Objective:
To study the variation in selenoprotein P levels in serum among healthy subjects from 17 European regions representing nine countries.
Subjects:
Survey of 414 37-70-year-old subjects (197/217 males/females) from 17 regions.
Results:
The level of selenoprotein P varied significantly among regions and countries. When the highest concentration of selenoprotein P encountered in samples from Maldegem (Belgium), was set at 100%, the mean concentration for other regions was: 92% Barcelona; 91% Ipswich and London; 89% Malmö and Vosselaan; 86% Lisbon; 85% Netherlands; 83% Umeå; 82% Uppsala; 80% Paris; 79% Heidelberg; 78% Gothenburg and Grenoble; 74% Giessen; 71% Ioannina and 69% Epirus. When the data were pooled for the nine countries the highest selenoprotein P concentration was observed for subjects from Spain. When this concentration was set at 100%, the mean concentration for other countries was: 99% Belgium and United Kingdom, 94% Portugal, 92% Netherlands and Sweden, 86% France, 83% Germany and 76% Greece. The linear correlation between serum selenium and serum selenoprotein P in the whole sample was 0.68, P < 0.001 (n = 414), and it was similar in men and women. Despite this high correlation the mean ratio between selenoprotein P and selenium varied 1.3-fold among regions.
Conclusions:
Both the concentration of selenoprotein P as well as its proportion of total serum selenium in adult subjects vary among different European regions. Further studies are necessary to evaluate the physiological or medical implications of these differences.

