Association of Nail Selenium Level with Serum Lipids in Rural Elderly Population

Objectives  To explore the relationship between nail selenium and serum lipids in rural elderly Chinese.

Methods Based on formerly established study cohort, 1859 subjects aged 65 or older were recruited from 4 rural areas with different environmental selenium levels. Finger nail samples were collected and the trace amount of selenium was detected with 2, 3-diaminonaphthalene fluorometric method. Fasting venous blood samples were collected and analyzed for 7 serum indices, including TC, TG, HDLC, LDLC, ApoA1, ApoB and ApoE, with chemiluminescence method.

Results Serum lipid indices and nail selenium level of subjects from different sites were in significant difference statistically (P < 0.05).Compared with the subjects from lower selenium areas, most serum lipid levels were higher in the subjects from higher environmental selenium areas. With the increase of nail selenium level, the content of TC, HDLC, LDLC, ApoA1, ApoB, and ApoE showed a trend of higher level (P < 0.05).A positive correlation between blood lipids and nail selenium was observed only in population with the lowest quintile of nail selenium level ( < 0.427 μg/g).

Conclusions Nail selenium might be associated with serum lipids in rural elderly population.