Selenium Status Is Associated With Insulin Resistance Markers in Adults: Findings From the 2013 to 2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES)

• Published in: Frontiers in nutrition (Lausanne) Vol. 8; p. 696024
• Main Authors: Cardoso, Barbara R., Braat, Sabine, Graham, Ross M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A 28-06-2021
• Subjects: diabetes; glucose; insulin; insulin resistance; Nutrition; selenium
• ISSN: 2296-861X; 2296-861X
• DOI: 10.3389/fnut.2021.696024

Although literature has been consistently showing an increased risk of type 2 diabetes (T2DM) in populations with high exposure to selenium, there is a lack of information quantifying the association between diabetes-related markers and the nutritional status of selenium. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the association between blood selenium concentration and glucose markers in a representative sample of the US population, which is known to have moderate to high exposure to selenium. This cross-sectional analysis included 4,339 participants ≥18 years from the 2013 to 2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). All participants were assessed for whole blood selenium concentration, fasting plasma insulin and glucose, HbA1c, and HOMA-IR (Homeostatic Model Assessment for Insulin Resistance). In this cohort, all participants presented with adequate selenium status [196.2 (SD: 0.9) μg/L] and 867 (15%) had diabetes mellitus. Selenium was positively associated with insulin, glucose and HOMA-IR in models adjusted for age and sex. When the models were further adjusted for smoking status, physical activity, metabolic syndrome and BMI, the associations with insulin and HOMA-IR remained but the association with glucose was no longer significant. A 10 μg/L increase in selenium was associated with 1.5% (95% CI: 0.4–2.6%) increase in insulin and 1.7% (95% CI: 0.5–2.9%) increase in HOMA-IR in fully adjusted models. There was no evidence of an association between selenium and diabetes prevalence. Our findings corroborate the notion that selenium supplementation should not be encouraged in populations with high dietary intake of selenium.