Association of reduced selenium status in the aetiology of recurrent miscarriage

• Published in: BJOG : an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology Vol. 106; no. 11; pp. 1188 - 1191
• Main Authors: Nicoll, A. E., Norman, J., Macpherson, A., Acharya, U.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-11-1999
• Subjects: Abortion, Habitual - blood; Abortion, Habitual - etiology; Adult; Biomarkers - blood; Case-Control Studies; Female; Humans; Pregnancy; Selenium - blood; Selenium - deficiency
• ISSN: 1470-0328; 0306-5456; 1471-0528
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1471-0528.1999.tb08146.x

Objective
To determine whether recurrent miscarriage is associated with reduced selenium status.
Design
Case–control study.
Setting
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Glasgow Royal Infirmary and Glasgow Royal Maternity Hospital.
Population
Twenty nonpregnant women with a history of unexplained recurrent miscarriage, and 47 nonpregnant parous women with a history of at least one successful pregnancy and no more than one miscarriage.
Methods
A 7 mL blood sample from each woman was collected into lithium heparin ‘vacutainer’ tubes. Samples were centrifuged at 3000 g for 15 minutes, and plasma was extracted and stored at −20°C. Selenium concentrations were measured using a fluorescence spectrophotometer. The selenium concentrations in the two groups were compared and the differences examined using the Student's t test.
Main outcome measures
Plasma selenium concentration (μg/L).
Results
The mean selenium concentration for women with a history of unexplained recurrent miscarriage was 67.7 μg/L (SD 16.4). The selenium level for the women with no history of recurrent miscarriage was 70.3 μg/L (SD 12.7). There was no difference in selenium concentrations between the two groups (P= 0.53).
Conclusions
In this study there is no association between unexplained recurrent miscarriage and reduced selenium status, implying that reduced selenium status is not a factor in the pathogenesis of recurrent miscarriage. We can find no rationale for a trial of selenium therapy in women with a history of recurrent miscarriage.