Clinical and Metabolic Response to Selenium Supplementation in Pregnant Women at Risk for Intrauterine Growth Restriction: Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial
Authors: Elaheh Mesdaghinia
Zatollah Asemi
Fereshteh Bahmani
Nasrin Sharifi
Azam Rahavi
Journal: Biological Trace Element Research (2017)
Discipline: BIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY
Keywords: Antioxidant; Intrauterine growth restriction; Metabolic profiles; Oxidative stress; Pregnant women
Affiliations: Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, School of Medicine, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Islamic Republic of Iran., Research Center for Biochemistry and Nutrition in Metabolic Diseases, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Islamic Republic of Iran., Research Center for Biochemistry and Nutrition in Metabolic Diseases, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Islamic Republic of Iran. .

Abstract:  Data on the effects of selenium supplementation on clinical signs and metabolic profiles in women at risk for intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) are scarce. This study was designed to assess the effects of selenium supplementation on clinical signs and metabolic status in pregnant women at risk for IUGR. This randomized double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial was performed among 60 women at risk for IUGR according to abnormal uterine artery Doppler waveform. Participants were randomly assigned to intake either 100 μg selenium supplements as tablet (n = 30) or placebo (n = 30) for 10 weeks between 17 and 27 weeks of gestation. After 10 weeks of selenium administration, a higher percentage of women in the selenium group had pulsatility index (PI) of &lt;1.45) (P = 0.002) than of those in the placebo group. In addition, changes in plasma levels of total antioxidant capacity (TAC) (P &lt; 0.001), glutathione (GSH) (P = 0.008), and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) (P = 0.004) in the selenium group were significant compared with the placebo group. Additionally, selenium supplementation significantly decreased serum insulin (P = 0.02), homeostasis model of assessment-estimated insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) (P = 0.02), and homeostatic model assessment for B-cell function (HOMA-B) (P = 0.02) and significantly increased quantitative insulin sensitivity check index (QUICKI) (P = 0.04) and HDL-C levels (P = 0.02) compared with the placebo. We did not find any significant effect of selenium administration on malondialdehyde (MDA), nitric oxide (NO), fasting plasma glucose (FPG), and other lipid profiles. Overall, selenium supplementation in pregnant women at risk for IUGR resulted in improved PI, TAC, GSH, hs-CRP, and markers of insulin metabolism and HDL-C levels, but it did not affect MDA, NO, FPG, and other lipid profiles.Clinical trial registration number http://www.irct.ir : IRCT201601045623N64. 

Retracted: No

PubPeer comments:
 There are many concerns about the integrity of 172 publications by this research group, including this one. Some of the concerns are published 1. Anaesthesia 2020;75:1683u201392, see Supplementary data. This paper is A104 2. Account Res 2020;28:149-61. 3. J Clin Epidemiol 2021;131:22-29. Journals and publishers were notified of these concerns in July 2019. 23 publications have an expression of concern. To our knowledge there has been no public response about any of the concerns. We think these publications are unreliable ,