The Association of Circulating Selenium Concentrations with Diabetes Mellitus

PURPOSE: The relationship between circulating selenium and diabetes mellitus (DM) remains inconsistent. Therefore, the relationship between circulating selenium and DM was investigated in the present study. PATIENTS AND METHODS: All participants (aged ≥18 years) were included from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 1999–2006. Selenium concentrations from the fasting serum samples were determined using inductively coupled mass spectrometry, then grouped into quartiles. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated by using multivariate logistic regression analysis and the results were stratified by age and sex. RESULTS: A total of 2,903 (61.9±13.7 years old) participants (49.3% males) were enrolled, and 580 (19.97%) of them had DM. The mean levels of selenium were 136.4±19.6 µg/L. Patients with DM (138.76±20.02 vs 135.88±19.44, P=0.002) had higher selenium levels compared to those without DM. The OR for DM was 1.12 (95% CI=1.01–1.24; P=0.0270) for each 10 µg/L increment in selenium, and subjects in the highest quartile of selenium levels (>147.00 uµg/L) had 2.82 (95% CI=1.55–5.11; P=0.0007) times higher risk of DM compared to the lowest quartile of selenium levels. Subgroup analysis showed that selenium was independently associated with DM only in female aged <65 years. CONCLUSION: Circulating selenium levels were positively associated with the odds of DM, but difference in sex and age.