Association of Blood Selenium Levels with Diabetes and Heart Failure in American General Adults: a Cross-sectional Study of NHANES 2011-2020 pre

Chongyang Zhang; Qingjia Zeng; Xinyao Liu; Qile He; Jinyao Zhang; Shanshan Zhao; Hongpu Hu

doi:10.1007/s12011-023-03933-4

Association of Blood Selenium Levels with Diabetes and Heart Failure in American General Adults: a Cross-sectional Study of NHANES 2011-2020 pre

Biol Trace Elem Res. 2023 Nov 23. doi: 10.1007/s12011-023-03933-4. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Chongyang Zhang¹, Qingjia Zeng¹, Xinyao Liu¹, Qile He¹, Jinyao Zhang¹, Shanshan Zhao¹, Hongpu Hu²

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Medical Information/Library, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100020, China.
² Institute of Medical Information/Library, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100020, China. hu.hongpu@imicams.ac.cn.

PMID: 37996718
DOI: 10.1007/s12011-023-03933-4

Abstract

Selenium is an essential trace element closely related to human health; however, the relationship between blood selenium levels, diabetes, and heart failure remains inconclusive. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the relationship between blood selenium levels and the prevalence of diabetes as well as heart failure in American general adults aged 20 years or older. This study utilized data from four survey cycles from NHANES 2011-2020 pre. Blood selenium levels were considered as both a continuous variable and quartiles, and logistic regression was employed to investigate the associations between blood selenium levels with diabetes and heart failure. Nonlinear relationships were examined by restricted cubic spline regression. The analysis included a total of 16311 participants aged 20 years or older. After adjustment for all potential confounder, we found when the blood selenium levels increased by 10 ug/L, the average risk of diabetes increased by 4.2% (95% CI: 1.5%, 7.0%), and the average risk of heart failure decreased by 5.0% (95% CI: 0.1%, 9.8%). In addition, compared with the lowest reference group, blood selenium levels were significantly positively associated with risk of diabetes in participants in the fourth quartile (OR=1.458, 95% CI: 1.173, 1.812), while significantly negatively associated with the risk of heart failure in participants in the second, third and fourth quartiles (Q2, OR=0.677, 95% CI: 0.471, 0.974) (Q3, OR=0.609, 95% CI: 0.426, 0.870) (Q4, OR=0.653, 95% CI: 0.443, 0.961). There was a nonlinear and reverse L-shaped association between blood selenium and diabetes, while a negative dose-response association between blood selenium and heart failure. Furthermore, the association between blood selenium levels and heart failure was more pronounced in participants with poor glycemic control, rather than diabetic patients. High blood selenium levels may be positively related to diabetes, while low blood selenium levels may be associated to heart failure. Appropriate blood selenium levels may help prevent diabetes and heart failure.

Keywords: Diabetes; Heart failure; Risk factors; Selenium.