Abstract
Autoimmune thyroiditis (AIT) is one of the most common autoimmune diseases; genetic
as well as environmental factors contribute to its pathogenesis. The thyroid is the
organ with the highest selenium content per unit weight. Selenium status appears to
have an impact on the development of thyroid pathologies. We investigated a possible
difference of selenium serum levels as a marker of nutritional selenium supply between
patients with AIT in central Lower Austria and a matched group of healthy persons
living in the same region. Selenium serum levels in the patients with AIT were 98.0±15.6 μg/l.
A significant difference to the matched group of normal persons, whose selenium serum
levels were 103.2±12.4 μg/l, could not be detected by the t-test (p>0.05). We considered the serum selenium levels to be indicators of selenium
supply (by alimentation). A serum level of 120–160 μg/l of selenium represents the
normal range. According to this, most patients and control persons showed mild to
moderate selenium deficiency (80–120 μg/l selenium). Although our data present slightly
higher selenium levels in normal persons than in patients with AIT, this weak and
statistically insignificant trend is not sufficient to support the conclusion of a
link between inadequate selenium supply and autoimmune thyroid disease.
Key words
selenium - autoimmune thyroiditis - Lower Austria
