FLORENCE, Italy—A joint study from Italian and American government researchers found low plasma selenium levels negatively correlated to skeletal muscle strength in older, community-dwelling adults (Am J Clin Nutr. 2007;86(2):347-52).
Researchers measured plasma selenium and hip, grip and knee strength in a cross-sectional study of 891 men and women aged 65 years or older from the Invecchiare in Chianti (InCHIANTI) Study, a population-based cohort study in Tuscany. They defined poor muscle strength as the lowest quartile of hip flexion, grip, and knee extension strength. Overall, mean plasma selenium was 0.95 (± 0.15 µmol/L). After adjustment for age, sex, education, total energy intake, body mass index (BMI) and chronic disease, they found participants in the lowest, compared to the highest, quartile of plasma selenium were at higher risk of poor hip strength, knee strength and grip strength. They concluded low plasma selenium is independently associated with poor skeletal muscle strength in community-dwelling older adults in Tuscany.