Selenium status in patients with autoimmune and non-autoimmune thyroid diseases from four European countries

Abstract

Context: Selenium supplementation has been suggested for Hashimoto thyroiditis and Graves’ ophthalmopathy. Objective, Design: Our aim is to measure selenium status (p-Se, p-SePP), urine iodine (UI) levels and urine iodine/creatinine ratio (UI/C) in different thyroid diseases (n = 416) from four European countries and to compare the results between patients with and without thyroid autoimmunity. Results: p-Se and p-SePP showed positive correlation and did not correlate with UI/C. Also, these measurements were higher in patients from Italy in comparison with the other countries. Austria had the lowest UI/C ratios. Selenium deficiency exists in these four European countries. Selenium status was lower in patients with Hashimoto thyroiditis and Graves’ disease in comparison with non-autoimmune thyroid disease patients and did not differ between autoimmune patients with or without thyroid peroxidase antibodies. The latter correlated positively with age. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that Se supplementation might have a beneficial effect in autoimmune thyroid patients.

Keywords::

• Graves’ disease
• Hashimoto’s thyroiditis
• non-autoimmune thyroid disease
• plasma selenium
• plasma selenoprotein P
• selenium status
• thyroid diseases
• urine iodine

Acknowledgements

The following members of UEMS – Endocrinology Section have been involved either in the design or in reviewing this study and their contribution is very much appreciated: AJ van der Lelij, M Bolanowski, H Perrild, G Roberts, J Wemeau, M Coculescu, N Skordis, J Skrha, J Marek, K Badenhoop, T Bednarczuk, JC Vieira, K Birkenland, K Racz, B Hallengren, G Ayvaz, M Pfeifer, S Akalin, S Sjoberg and R Quinton.

Financial & competing interests disclosure

This work was supported partially from U.E.M.S, section of Endocrinology and Metabolism (to GE Krassas) by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG; SCHO849/4-1) and the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi; KF2263202CS2) (to L Schomburg). The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Key issues

• Plasma selenium and selenoprotein P concentrations are correlated well, which means that the area from which these patients are coming from is selenium deficient.

• Another interesting finding is that selenium status does not correlate with urine iodine.

• However, selenium status was lower in patients with Hashimoto thyroiditis and Graves’ disease than in patients with non-autoimmune thyroid disease.

• The latter finding may explain why selenium supplementation has a beneficial effect in patients with Hashimoto thyroiditis and Graves’ ophthalmopathy, which has been reported so far.

Notes