Association of Urinary and Dietary Selenium and of Serum Selenium Species with Serum Alanine Aminotransferase in a Healthy Italian Population

The trace element selenium is of considerable interest due to its toxic and nutritional properties, which markedly differ according to the dose and the chemical form. It has been shown that excess selenium intake increases the risk of type 2 diabetes and, possibly, other metabolic diseases like hyperlipidemia and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). For the latter, however, epidemiologic evidence is still limited. We carried out a cross-sectional study recruiting 137 healthy blood donors living in Northern Italy and assessed their exposure to selenium through different methods and measuring serum selenium species. We performed linear and spline regression analyses to assess the relation of selenium and its forms with serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels, a marker of NAFLD. Urinary selenium levels were positively and somewhat linearly correlated with ALT (beta regression coefficient (beta) 0.11). Conversely, the association of dietary selenium intake with ALT was positive up to 100 mu g/day and null above that amount (beta 0.03). Total serum selenium was inversely associated with ALT up to 120 mu g/L, and slightly positive above that amount. Concerning the different serum selenium species, ALT positively correlated with two organic forms, selenocysteine (beta 0.27) and glutathione peroxidase-bound selenium (beta 0.09), showed a U-shaped relation with the inorganic tetravalent form, selenite, and an inverse association with human serum albumin-bound selenium (beta -0.56). Our results suggest that overall exposure to selenium, and more specifically to some of its chemical forms, is positively associated with ALT, even at levels so far generally considered to be safe. Our findings add to the evidence suggesting that low-dose selenium overexposure is associated with NAFLD.

Automated summary

Selenium is a trace element with toxic and nutritional properties that can increase the risk of type 2 diabetes and NAFLD with excess intake. This study found a positive association between overall selenium exposure, especially certain chemical forms, and ALT levels, even at levels considered safe.