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Parenteral Selenium Supplementation in Extremely Low Birth Weight Infants: Inadequate Dosage But No Correlation With Hypothyroidism

Journal of Perinatology volume 19, pages 568–572 (1999)Cite this article

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

Selenium is an essential trace element, known to be important in thyroid metabolism. We speculated that parenteral selenium supplementation is inadequate in preterm infants and may contribute to the development of hypothyroidism.

STUDY DESIGN:

Serum selenium and thyroid function were evaluated on day 10 of life in extremely low birth weight infants. Selenium intake provided by parenteral nutrition was prospectively evaluated.

RESULTS:

Selenium intake was close to the recommended 2 μg/kg per day. Serum selenium values were 0.54 ± 0.13 μM (mean ± SD, n = 29). Selenium serum levels were low in 26 of 29 infants. In infants with subnormal serum selenium levels, free T4 was transiently low in 10 of 26 infants but was normal in 16 of 26 infants. No significant correlation was found between serum selenium levels and hypothyroidism.

CONCLUSION: Current selenium supplementation guidelines may be inadequate in extremely low birth weight infants. However, selenium deficiency does not seem to play a major role in neonatal hypothyroidism.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Schneider Children’s Medical Center of Israel, Petah Tiqva, Israel

    Gil Klinger MD & Lea Sirota MD

  2. Divisions of Gastroenterology and Nutrition, Schneider Children’s Medical Center of Israel, Petah Tiqva, Israel

    Raanan Shamir MD

  3. Division of Endocrinology, Schneider Children’s Medical Center of Israel, Petah Tiqva, Israel

    Zeev Josefsberg MD

  4. Intensive Care Department, Rabin Medical Center, Petah Tiqva, Israel

    Pierre Singer MD

  5. Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Gil Klinger MD, Raanan Shamir MD, Pierre Singer MD, Eric M Diamond PhD, Zeev Josefsberg MD & Lea Sirota MD

  6. Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Rambam Medical Center, Haifa, Israel

    Eric M Diamond PhD

Authors
  1. Gil Klinger MD
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  2. Raanan Shamir MD
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  3. Pierre Singer MD
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  4. Eric M Diamond PhD
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  5. Zeev Josefsberg MD
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  6. Lea Sirota MD
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Klinger, G., Shamir, R., Singer, P. et al. Parenteral Selenium Supplementation in Extremely Low Birth Weight Infants: Inadequate Dosage But No Correlation With Hypothyroidism. J Perinatol 19, 568–572 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jp.7200273

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jp.7200273

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