May 2021 - Seleniumfacts.com

Clinical studies show that daily supplementation with selenium can improve male fertility [Moslemi et al.; Safarinejad & Safarinejad; Scott et al.].

Stork bringing baby — Sperm motility is a parameter of sperm analysis used to evaluate the ability of sperm to move in a forward direction. Poor sperm motility is associated with diminished male fertility. Adequate serum selenium status (> 90-100 mcg/L) is associated with improved sperm quality and improved sperm motility.

Selenium is essential for sperm function and male fertility.
Selenium deficiency has been associated with reproductive difficulty in cattle, chickens, mice, pigs, rats, and sheep; selenium supplementation has improved reproductive performance in mice and sheep and mice [Moslemi et al.].
The mechanism linking adequate selenium status to improved sperm quality may be the role of selenium containing antioxidant seleno-enzymes in reducing the extent of oxidative damage caused by harmful free radicals [Moslemi et al.].
Results from a comparative study have shown that supplementation with a selenium yeast preparation resulted in significant reductions in biomarkers of oxidative stress but that supplementation with pure selenomethionine did not. The results suggest that selenium-containing compounds in the selenium yeast preparation, i.e. compounds other than selenomethionine, may account for the decrease in oxidative stress [Richie et al.].

Selenium Supplementation of Men in Iran in 2009

In a 2009 study lasting 26 weeks, researchers in Teheran randomly assigned infertile men, average age 31 years, range 25-48 years, to the following groups [Safarinejad & Safarinejad]:

selenium supplementation group (n=116; dosage = 200 mcg/day)
N-acetyl-cysteine group (n=118; dosage = 600 mg/day)
selenium supplementation group (n=116; dosage = 200 mcg/day) plus N-acetyl-cysteine (dosage = 600 mg/day)
placebo group (n=118)

Outcomes of the 2009 Iranian selenium study:

All semen parameters significantly improved with the selenium treatment and with the N-acetyl-cysteine treatment.
Administering selenium plus N-acetyl-cysteine resulted in additive beneficial effects.
There was a significant positive correlation between the seminal plasma concentrations of selenium and N-acetyl-cysteine and the semen parameters.
There was a strong correlation between the sum of the selenium and N-acetyl-cysteine concentrations and the mean sperm concentration, sperm motility, and percentage of normal morphology sperm.

Selenium Supplementation of Men in Iran 2011

In an open-label study of 690 infertile men, average age 28.5 years, range 20-45 years, who received a daily selenium supplement (200 mcg) together with a daily synthetic vitamin E (400 units, α-tocopherol) for at least 100 days, the researchers concluded that supplemental selenium and vitamin E improve semen quality and have beneficial effects on sperm motility [Moslemi et al.]. read more

Cardiologists at the University of Groningen in The Netherlands have published a comprehensive review of the current knowledge about selenium deficiency and the role of selenoproteins in heart failure patients [Al-Mubarak 2021].

The key points in their review are as follows:

Selenium is an essential micronutrient. It is incorporated into 25 different selenoproteins that have many biological functions in the body.
Suboptimal selenium intakes and status lead to the impaired cellular synthesis of these selenoproteins and to the diminished function of selenoproteins, which may aggravate oxidative stress and inflammation, both of which are associated with greater severity of heart failure.
70% of patients diagnosed with heart failure have suboptimal serum selenium levels (below 100 micrograms per liter).
The heart failure patients with suboptimal serum selenium concentrations have lower exercise capacity, lower quality of life, and a worse prognosis than heart failure patients with serum selenium concentrations above 100 mcg/L.
Clinical trials of the efficacy of selenium supplementation in patients with heart failure have shown improved clinical symptoms such as improvements in NYHA function class, in left ventricular ejection fraction, and in lipid profile.

Selenium Deficiency and Heart Failure

Selenium deficiency has long been associated with increased incidence of Keshan disease, a form of cardiomyopathy (cardiomyopathy = disease or disorder of the heart muscle). In China, oral selenium supplementation has almost totally eliminated Keshan disease in areas where it was once endemic [Zhou 2018].
Important selenoproteins such as the glutathione peroxidases and selenoprotein P require a sufficiently high selenium intake to reach plateau levels, generally serum selenium levels from 90 to 125 mcg/L [Hurst 2010].
In a well-documented heart failure cohort, serum selenium levels below 100 mcg/L have been associated with reduced exercise capacity, poorer quality of life, and a worse prognosis [Bomer 2020].
The Dutch cardiologists suggest that patients with serum selenium levels below 100 mcg/L should be considered to have suboptimal concentrations [Bomer 2020].

Observational Studies of Selenium Concentration and Heart Failure

Three meta-analyses have provided evidence of a relationship between selenium status and the risk of heart disease:

Flores-Mateo [2006] showed that higher selenium concentrations are associated with a reduced risk of acute coronary artery disease of 15% in pooled prospective cohort studies and a reduced risk of 57% in pooled case-control studies.
Zhang [2016] showed that patients with the highest level of selenium status (median 101.5 mcg/L) had a 13% lower risk of developing heart disease compared to the lowest category (median 53.7 mcg/L).
Kuria [2020] showed that higher selenium status reduces mortality from heart disease by 25% and incidence of heart disease by 20%, compared to low selenium status.

Studies of Selenium Supplementation – the KiSel-10 Study

The most interesting clinical study is the KiSel-10 study in which elderly community living citizens, average age 78 years, with low selenium status (mean baseline status: 67.1 mcg/L), were treated with a combination of 200 mcg of an organic high-selenium yeast preparation and 200 mg of Coenzyme Q10 daily for four years. read more

Milestones in early selenium research

1817 Swedish chemist Jöns Jakob Berzelius discovers selenium

1957 Biochemist Klaus Schwarz shows that selenium in microscopic amounts has a vital importance for mammalian health

1969 Professor J.T. Rotruck discovers that selenium has a biochemical role as a component of the antioxidant enzyme glutathione peroxidase

1969 Professors R.J. Shamberger and D.V. Frost report a possible protective effect of selenium against cancer in humans

1973 Professor J.T. Rotruck identifies the enzyme glutathione peroxidase as a selenium-dependent protein

1977 Professor G.N. Schrauzer publishes cancer mortality correlation studies showing an inverse correlation between dietary intakes of selenium and cancer mortality in 27 countries

1988 Professor G.Q Yang summarizes the lessons learned about the selenium-related endemic diseases Keshan disease and Kashin-Beck disease and about the importance of adequate daily selenium intakes

1989 Professor G.G. Duthie publishes evidence for a role of selenium in the prevention of cardiovascular disease

1993 Researcher W.J. Blot publishes the results of the Nutrition Intervention Trials in Linxian, China, showing that supplementation with a combination of selenium and other antioxidants reduces the risk of cancer

1994 Professor G.N. Schrauzer publishes evidence that selenium is important in the maintenance and therapy of HIV-infected patients

1996 Professor Larry Clark publishes the results of a randomized controlled trial – the Nutritional Prevention of Cancer study -- that shows selenium's cancer-protective effects on colon cancer, lung cancer, and prostate cancer

1997 Professor G.F. Combs summarizes the evidence for the protective effects of selenium against cancer

1999 Professor J.E. Oldfield publishes his Selenium World Atlas, mapping areas of selenium deficiency around the world

2000 Researcher O.A. Levander publishes evidence showing an anti-viral effect of selenium

2002 Researcher R. Gärtner shows that supplementation with selenium reduces inflammation in patients with autoimmune thyroiditis

2002 Researcher Margaret Rayman presents the arguments for increasing selenium intakes to realize selenium’s antioxidant and anti-viral and anti-inflammatory effects as well as selenium’s enhancement of immune function and reproductive success.

Month: May 2021

Selenium Supplementation and Male Infertility