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Title: Selenium status and type 2 diabetes risk

Author
item HUANG, YING-CHEN - Mississippi State University
item COMBS, GERALD - Tufts University
item WU, TUNG-LUNG - Mississippi State University
item Zeng, Huawei
item CHENG, WEN-HSING - Mississippi State University

Submitted to: Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/13/2022
Publication Date: 9/16/2022
Citation: Huang, Y., Combs, G., Wu, T., Zeng, H., Cheng, W. 2022. Selenium status and type 2 diabetes risk. Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics. 730. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.abb.2022.109400.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.abb.2022.109400

Interpretive Summary: Selenium (Se) is an essential nutrient for humans and animals. Optimal Se intake is necessary for overall health, but the nutritional requirement varies by confounding factors such as age, disease, and sex. There are more than 33 million Americans have type 2 diabetes, which is a disease where human body cannot use energy from food properly. Recent human and animal studies suggest that both insufficient and excessive Se intakes may potentially raise the risk of type 2 diabetes. In this review, we discuss the current evidence linking Se status and diabetes from animal and human studies. The information will be useful for scientists and health-care professionals who are interested in nutrition and type-2 diabetes prevention.

Technical Abstract: Optimal body selenium (Se) status is necessary for overall health, but that status can be affected by food intake pattern, age, sex and health status. At nutritional levels of dietary intake, Se functions metabolically as an essential constituent of some two dozen selenoproteins, most, if not all, of which have redox functions. Insufficient dietary intake of Se reduces, to varying degrees, the expression of these selenoproteins. Recent clinical and animal studies have indicated that both insufficient and excessive Se intakes may increase risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D), perhaps by selenoprotein action. In this review, we discuss the current evidence linking Se status and T2D risk, and the roles of 14 selenoproteins and proteins involved in selenoprotein biosynthesis. Understanding such results can inform the setting of safe and adequate Se intakes.