Low serum concentration of selenium in hemodialysis patients

Abstract

Selenium is a part of glutathione peroxidase. The decline of selenium may contribute to either myocardial disease or malignant tumor. It is reported that taking foods of abundant selenium decreases the occurrence of heart disease and some malignant tumors. Since cardiovascular disease is the most common cause of death in dialysis patients, we examined serum selenium concentration and glutathione peroxidase activation in these patients, and the data were compared with that in healthy control. in addition, we observed changes in these concentrations in the patients before and after taking selenium-rich garlic.
Serum selenium concentration was significantly lower in dialysis patients (120.17±22.36μg/L) than in healthy controls (156.42±13.48μg/L) (p<0.01). Lower value of glutathione peroxidase activation was also noted in dialysis patients (98.9±21.4μmol/min/L) compared with healthy controls (202.1±30.9μmol/min/L) (p<0.01). To determine the effect of selenium-rich garlic on serum selenium concentration, we administered garlic to 10 dialysis patients including 5 with low and 5 with high serum selenium concentration (60.32±6.09μg/L and 126.28±9.98μg/L, respectively). A significant increase in serum selenium concentration (p<0.05) was demonstrated in the former but not in the latter 8 weeks after starting garlic intake. In conclusion, our observations suggest that the decreased serum selenium concentration may be one of the risk factors for cardiovascular disease and malignant tumor in the dialysis patients. Selenium-rich garlic may be useful to elevate selenium concentrations in these patients.