Department of Endocrinology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, No,37 Guoxue Lane, Chengdu, Sichuan Province 610041, China.
BMC Public Health. 2013 Dec 10;13:1153. doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-13-1153.
Selenium (Se) is a necessary element for the biosynthesis of thyroid hormones. We investigated the relationship between selenium status, thyroid volume, and goiter in a cross-sectional study in an iodine-sufficient area.
We selected residents of Chengdu (over 18 years old and living in the city for more than 5 years) using a stratified cluster sampling technique. Fifteen hundred subjects were selected for the study, which involved a questionnaire survey, physical examination, thyroid ultrasound, serum thyroid function test, and determination of serum selenium level. Thyroid volume was calculated from the thickness, width, length, and a corrective factor for each lobe. Ultimately, 1,205 subjects completed the investigation and were included in our study. Additionally, 80 school-age children were selected to provide urine samples for urinary iodine analysis. We analyzed the data using appropriate nonparametric and parametric statistical tests.
The median urinary iodine value was 184 μg/L in school-age children, indicating iodine sufficiency. The median serum selenium level of the 1,205 subjects was 52.63 (interquartile range [IQR] : 40.40-67.00) μg/L. The median thyroid volume was 9.93 (IQR: 7.71-12.57) mL; both log-transformed serum selenium and log-transformed thyroid volume were Gaussian distributions (P = .638 and P = .046, respectively). The prevalences of goiter and thyroid nodules were 8.8% and 18.6%. The prevalences of positive thyroid autoantibodies, thyroperoxidase autoantibodies and thyroglobulin autoantibodies were 16.7%, 12.0%, and 11.1%, respectively. In the general linear regression model, there were positive associations between serum selenium and age, and body mass index. We found no association between serum selenium and thyroid-stimulating hormone. In simple linear regression analyses, we found no association between thyroid volume and serum selenium. There were no significant differences in serum selenium between persons with or without goiter. Serum selenium was not a risk factor for goiter.
In our study population, serum selenium was neither associated with thyroid volume nor with goiter in an iodine-sufficient area. More studies should be conducted by following non-goitrous persons over time and monitoring their selenium status.
硒（Se）是甲状腺激素生物合成所必需的元素。我们在碘充足地区进行了一项横断面研究，调查了硒状态、甲状腺体积和甲状腺肿之间的关系。
我们采用分层聚类抽样技术选择成都居民（18 岁以上，在城市居住 5 年以上）。选择了 1500 名受试者进行研究，包括问卷调查、体格检查、甲状腺超声、血清甲状腺功能检查和血清硒水平测定。甲状腺体积根据每个叶的厚度、宽度、长度和校正系数计算。最终，1205 名受试者完成了调查并纳入了我们的研究。此外，选择了 80 名学龄儿童提供尿液样本进行尿碘分析。我们使用适当的非参数和参数统计检验分析数据。
学龄儿童的中位数尿碘值为 184μg/L，表明碘充足。1205 名受试者的中位数血清硒水平为 52.63（四分位距[IQR]：40.40-67.00）μg/L。中位数甲状腺体积为 9.93（IQR：7.71-12.57）mL；血清硒和甲状腺体积的对数均呈正态分布（P=.638 和 P=.046）。甲状腺肿和甲状腺结节的患病率分别为 8.8%和 18.6%。甲状腺自身抗体、甲状腺过氧化物酶自身抗体和甲状腺球蛋白自身抗体的阳性率分别为 16.7%、12.0%和 11.1%。在一般线性回归模型中，血清硒与年龄和体重指数呈正相关。我们发现血清硒与促甲状腺激素之间没有关联。在简单线性回归分析中，我们发现甲状腺体积与血清硒之间没有关联。甲状腺肿患者和无甲状腺肿患者的血清硒无显著差异。血清硒不是甲状腺肿的危险因素。
在我们的研究人群中，在碘充足的地区，血清硒与甲状腺体积或甲状腺肿均无关联。应该进行更多的研究，通过随时间监测非甲状腺肿人群的硒状态来进行研究。
