The Predictive Value of Selenium in Diagnosis of Gestational Diabetes: A Nested Case-Control Study

AIM: The present study was conducted to determine the predictive value of Selenium (Se) in the diagnosis of Geatational diabetes Mellitus (GDM). METHODS: This is a nested case-control study with 636 normal pregnant mothers in their 11th-13th weeks. Gestational diabetes screening was done in weeks 24–28. Twenty-five individuals were detected as GDM, and for every GDM two gestational age-matched normal pregnant women were selected. The blood selenium level was measured in both groups. RESULTS: The serum Se level in the case group was lower than that of the control group (50.60 ± 10.88 versus 66.02 ± 10.57) in the first trimester. Also, in the second trimester, Se was lower in the case group (39.87 ± 10.23 versus 63.17 ± 10.22). The best cut-off point for selenium in order to predict the incidence of gestational diabetes in our study was 48.2. Pregnant women with selenium levels below 48.2 were more likely to develop gestational diabetes. CONCLUSION: Serum selenium was lower in the GDM subjects compared with age-matched control group; the clinical concept and mechanism of this finding need to be investigated through further studies.