BUFFALO, N.Y.—Selenium may not decrease the incidence of type 2 diabetes, and may even increase risk of the disease, according to results from a secondary analysis of a randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled trial published in the Annals of Internal Medicine (2007 Aug 21;147(4):217-23). Researchers from the State University of New York at Buffalo and the Roswell Park Cancer Institute, here, studied the effect of long-term selenium supplementation on the incidence of type 2 diabetes in an area of low selenium consumption of the eastern United States. Of 1,202 patients in dermatology clinics who did not have type 2 diabetes at baseline, some were given 200 µg/d oral selenium, and the rest were given placebo.
During an average follow-up of 7.7 years, type 2 diabetes developed in 58 selenium recipients and 39 placebo recipients (incidence, 12.6 cases per 1,000 person-years vs. 8.4 cases per 1,000 person-years, respectively). The lack of benefit of selenium supplementation on the incidence of type 2 diabetes persisted in analyses stratified by age, sex, body mass index and smoking status. An exposure-response gradient was found across tertiles of baseline plasma selenium level, with a statistically significant increased risk for type 2 diabetes in the highest tertile of baseline plasma selenium level.
The scientists noted type 2 diabetes was a secondary outcome in the parent trial; diagnoses of diabetes were self-reported, but validated in most participants; and the sample was mostly older and Caucasian. However, they concluded selenium supplementation does not seem to prevent type 2 diabetes, and it may increase risk for the disease.
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