BACKGROUND: Current literature regarding the effect of selenium supplementation on risk of diabetes is inconclusive.
Hence a longitudinal study was conducted to investigate the effect of selenium supplementation on serum glucose levels in elderly men.
METHODS: Data were obtained from 699 men participating in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 3 clinical trial investigating the effect of two doses of selenium (200 and 400 μg/day) compared to placebo on incidence of prostate cancer. Subjects were followed every six months for up to five years. Serum glucose levels were obtained every six months. Mixed effects regression models were used to assess if rate of change of serum glucose levels was significantly different in the selenium supplemented groups as compared to placebo. Sensitivity analyses were performed to assess the robustness of findings and to minimize the possibility of residual bias due to fasting status.
RESULTS: Of the total 2893 glucose measurements, 734 were carried out when the subject had been fasting for ≥ 8 hours. The changes in serum glucose levels during the course of the trial were not statistically significantly different as compared to placebo for the selenium 200 μg/day (p = 0.98) or selenium 400 μg/day (p = 0.81) treatment groups. Sensitivity analyses demonstrated comparable results for models using the total population and models restricted to subjects with only fasting glucose data.
CONCLUSION: These results do not support a relationship between selenium supplementation and risk of diabetes. Hence recommendations regarding selenium supplementation based on increased risk of diabetes seem premature.
Written by:
Algotar AM, Hsu CH, Singh P, Stratton SP. Are you the author?
The University of Arizona Cancer Center, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ.
Reference: J Diabetes. 2013 Mar 12. Epub ahead of print.
doi: 10.1111/1753-0407.12041
PubMed Abstract
PMID: 23489776
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