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Biological Activity of Selenium and Its Impact on Human Health

Selenium (Se) is a naturally occurring metalloid element essential to human and animal health in trace amounts but it is harmful in excess. Se plays a substantial role in the functioning of the human organism. It is incorporated into selenoproteins, thus supporting antioxidant defense systems. Selen...

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Autores principales: Genchi, Giuseppe, Lauria, Graziantonio, Catalano, Alessia, Sinicropi, Maria Stefania, Carocci, Alessia
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9917223/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36768955
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms24032633
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author Genchi, Giuseppe
Lauria, Graziantonio
Catalano, Alessia
Sinicropi, Maria Stefania
Carocci, Alessia
author_facet Genchi, Giuseppe
Lauria, Graziantonio
Catalano, Alessia
Sinicropi, Maria Stefania
Carocci, Alessia
author_sort Genchi, Giuseppe
collection PubMed
description Selenium (Se) is a naturally occurring metalloid element essential to human and animal health in trace amounts but it is harmful in excess. Se plays a substantial role in the functioning of the human organism. It is incorporated into selenoproteins, thus supporting antioxidant defense systems. Selenoproteins participate in the metabolism of thyroid hormones, control reproductive functions and exert neuroprotective effects. Among the elements, Se has one of the narrowest ranges between dietary deficiency and toxic levels. Its level of toxicity may depend on chemical form, as inorganic and organic species have distinct biological properties. Over the last decades, optimization of population Se intake for the prevention of diseases related to Se deficiency or excess has been recognized as a pressing issue in modern healthcare worldwide. Low selenium status has been associated with an increased risk of mortality, poor immune function, cognitive decline, and thyroid dysfunction. On the other hand, Se concentrations slightly above its nutritional levels have been shown to have adverse effects on a broad spectrum of neurological functions and to increase the risk of type-2 diabetes. Comprehension of the selenium biochemical pathways under normal physiological conditions is therefore an important issue to elucidate its effect on human diseases. This review gives an overview of the role of Se in human health highlighting the effects of its deficiency and excess in the body. The biological activity of Se, mainly performed through selenoproteins, and its epigenetic effect is discussed. Moreover, a brief overview of selenium phytoremediation and rhizofiltration approaches is reported.
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spelling pubmed-99172232023-02-11 Biological Activity of Selenium and Its Impact on Human Health Genchi, Giuseppe Lauria, Graziantonio Catalano, Alessia Sinicropi, Maria Stefania Carocci, Alessia Int J Mol Sci Review Selenium (Se) is a naturally occurring metalloid element essential to human and animal health in trace amounts but it is harmful in excess. Se plays a substantial role in the functioning of the human organism. It is incorporated into selenoproteins, thus supporting antioxidant defense systems. Selenoproteins participate in the metabolism of thyroid hormones, control reproductive functions and exert neuroprotective effects. Among the elements, Se has one of the narrowest ranges between dietary deficiency and toxic levels. Its level of toxicity may depend on chemical form, as inorganic and organic species have distinct biological properties. Over the last decades, optimization of population Se intake for the prevention of diseases related to Se deficiency or excess has been recognized as a pressing issue in modern healthcare worldwide. Low selenium status has been associated with an increased risk of mortality, poor immune function, cognitive decline, and thyroid dysfunction. On the other hand, Se concentrations slightly above its nutritional levels have been shown to have adverse effects on a broad spectrum of neurological functions and to increase the risk of type-2 diabetes. Comprehension of the selenium biochemical pathways under normal physiological conditions is therefore an important issue to elucidate its effect on human diseases. This review gives an overview of the role of Se in human health highlighting the effects of its deficiency and excess in the body. The biological activity of Se, mainly performed through selenoproteins, and its epigenetic effect is discussed. Moreover, a brief overview of selenium phytoremediation and rhizofiltration approaches is reported. MDPI 2023-01-30 /pmc/articles/PMC9917223/ /pubmed/36768955 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms24032633 Text en © 2023 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Review
Genchi, Giuseppe
Lauria, Graziantonio
Catalano, Alessia
Sinicropi, Maria Stefania
Carocci, Alessia
Biological Activity of Selenium and Its Impact on Human Health
title Biological Activity of Selenium and Its Impact on Human Health
title_full Biological Activity of Selenium and Its Impact on Human Health
title_fullStr Biological Activity of Selenium and Its Impact on Human Health
title_full_unstemmed Biological Activity of Selenium and Its Impact on Human Health
title_short Biological Activity of Selenium and Its Impact on Human Health
title_sort biological activity of selenium and its impact on human health
topic Review
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9917223/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36768955
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms24032633
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