Excess selenium intake is associated with microalbuminuria in female but not in male among adults with obesity: Results from NHANES 2009-2018

Jia-Wei Zhang; Yi Lin; Yue-Min Liu; Min-Min Wang; Jian-Guang Gong; Xiao-Gang Shen; Quan-Quan Shen; Bo Lin; Wei-Er Su; Yuan-Cheng Gao; Chen-Yi Yuan; Zhi-Hui Pan; Bin Zhu

doi:10.3389/fnut.2023.1043395

Excess selenium intake is associated with microalbuminuria in female but not in male among adults with obesity: Results from NHANES 2009-2018

Front Nutr. 2023 Jan 25:10:1043395. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2023.1043395. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Jia-Wei Zhang^{1

2

3}, Yi Lin², Yue-Min Liu¹, Min-Min Wang¹, Jian-Guang Gong¹, Xiao-Gang Shen¹, Quan-Quan Shen¹, Bo Lin¹, Wei-Er Su³, Yuan-Cheng Gao^{1

2

3}, Chen-Yi Yuan^{1

2

3}, Zhi-Hui Pan^{1

2

3}, Bin Zhu¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Nephrology, Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital, Affiliated People's Hospital, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, China.
² Department of Nephrology, Hangzhou Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine (Guangxing Hospital), Affiliated to Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, China.
³ The Third College of Clinical Medicine, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, China.

Abstract

Introduction: Selenium is a critical trace element with antioxidant activities that has been related to the preservation of kidney function. Few studies, however, have looked at the effects of excess selenium on kidneys. The purpose of the present study was performed to investigate the relationship between dietary selenium intake and the prevalence of microalbuminuria in American adults with obesity.

Methods: A total of 8,547 participants with obesity in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) with the age of 19 years or older were included in the present study. Multivariable regression and subgroup analyses were performed to examine the association between dietary selenium and microalbuminuria in the two genders, separately. A selenium intake above the median was defined as high selenium intake.

Results: Dietary selenium intake was significantly higher in men compared to women (139.49 μg/day vs. 101.06 μg/day; P < 0.0001). Among female participants, the prevalence of microalbuminuria was significantly higher in participants with a high selenium intake compared with those without a high selenium intake (13.82 vs. 9.96%; P = 0.008), whereas this difference did not exist in male participants (10.79 vs. 11.97%; P = 0.40). Dietary selenium is not significantly correlated with microalbuminuria (P = 0.68) in the male population, whereas each 1 μg/day of increase in selenium consumption was independently associated with a 6h higher risk of microalbuminuria (OR = 1.006; 95% CI, 1.001-1.011, P = 0.01) in females.

Conclusion: According to our research, excessive selenium consumption is positively correlated with microalbuminuria in females with obesity, but not in males with obesity.

Keywords: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES); chronic kidney disease (CKD); dietary selenium; epidemiology; microalbuminuria.

Grants and funding

This research was funded by the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Zhejiang Province Co-Construction Project (grant no. 2023017961), the Project of Zhejiang Traditional Chinese Medicine Administration (grant no. 2022ZA122), the Project of Basic Public Welfare Research Program of Zhejiang Province (grant no. LGF18H050005), the Project of Medical Science and Technology Project of Zhejiang Province (grant no. 2015KYA191), and the Project of Hangzhou Science and Technology Bureau (grant no. 20140733Q33).