Selenate fortification improves selenium status of term infants fed soy formula

Thirty-three healthy term infants were fed either soy formula (SF, 0.028 mumol Se/L; n = 17) or soy formula with added selenate (SF+Se, 0.17 mumol Se/L; n = 16) from birth (+4 d) to 16 wk. Selenium intakes of infants fed SF+Se were similar to the recommended dietary allowance and significantly greater than those of SF-fed infants. The SF group had significantly lower plasma, erythrocyte, and urine selenium, and lower plasma and erythrocyte glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activities at 16 wk compared to those of infants fed SF+Se. A decrease in plasma selenium was observed in SF-fed infants, whereas no differences in plasma selenium were found in infants fed SF+Se. These results indicate that selenate added to soy formula is highly available and effective at maintaining infant plasma and erythrocyte selenium concentrations and GPx activities that are greater than those of infants fed soy formula not fortified with selenium.