Insufficient documentation for clinical efficacy of selenium supplementation in chronic autoimmune thyroiditis, based on a systematic review and meta-analysis

By a systematic review and meta-analysis to investigate clinically relevant effects of selenium supplementation in patients with chronic autoimmune thyroiditis. Controlled trials in adults (18 years) with autoimmune thyroiditis, comparing selenium with or without levothyroxine substitution, versus placebo and/or levothyroxine substitution, were eligible for inclusion. Identified outcomes were serum thyrotropin (thyroid stimulating hormone) levels in LT4-untreated patients, thyroid ultrasound and health-related quality of life. Eleven publications, covering nine controlled trials, were included in the systematic review. Random effects model meta-analyses were performed in weighted mean difference for thyroid stimulating hormone, ultrasound and health-related quality of life. Quality of evidence was assessed per outcome, using GRADE. Meta-analyses showed no change in thyroid stimulating hormone, or improvements in health-related quality of life or thyroid echogenicity (ultrasound), between levothyroxine substitution-untreated patients assigned to selenium supplementation or placebo. Three trials found some improvement in wellbeing in patients receiving levothyroxine substitution, but could not be synthesized in a meta-analysis. The quality of evidence ranged from very low to low for thyroid stimulating hormone as well as ultrasound outcomes, and low to moderate for health-related quality of life, and was generally downgraded due to small sample sizes. We found no effect of selenium supplementation on thyroid stimulating hormone, health-related quality of life or thyroid ultrasound, in levothyroxine substitution-untreated individuals, and sporadic evaluation of clinically relevant outcomes in levothyroxine substitution-treated patients. Future well-powered RCTs, evaluating e.g. disease progression or health-related quality of life, are warranted before determining the relevance of selenium supplementation in autoimmune thyroiditis.