Nutrients Other than Selenium Are Important for Promoting Children's Health in Kashin-Beck Disease Areas.

Overall nutritional status has been proved associated with people's health. The overall nutritional status of children in Kashin-Beck disease (KBD) areas has been overlooked for decades. Therefore, it is worth investigating in the current generation to gather evidence and make suggestions for improvement. A cross-sectional study with three 24-h dietary recalls was conducted to collect raw data on the daily food intake of children. Recorded food was converted into daily nutrient intakes using CDGSS 3.0 software. WHO AnthroPlus software was used to analyse the BMI-for-age z-score (BAZ) for estimating the overall nutrition status of children. All the comparisons and regression analyses were conducted with SPSS 18.0 software. Multiple nutrient intakes among children from the Se-supplemented KBD-endemic were under the estimated average requirement. The protein-to-carbohydrate ratio (P/C ratio) was significantly higher in children from the non-Se-supplemented KBD-endemic area than the other areas (P < 0.001). The children's BAZ was negatively associated with age (B = -0.095, P < 0.001) and the number of KBD relatives (B = -0.277, P = 0.04), and it was positively associated with better housing conditions, receiving colostrum, and daily intakes of niacin and zinc by multivariate regression analysis (F = 10.337, R = 0.609, P < 0.001).Compared to non-Se-supplemented KBD-endemic area and non-endemic areas, children in Se-supplemented KBD-endemic areas have an insufficient intake of multiple nutrients. School breakfast and lunch programmes are recommended, and strict implementation is the key to ensuring a positive effect.

Is It the Appropriate Time to Stop Applying Selenium Enriched Salt in Kashin-Beck Disease Areas in China?

We aimed to identify significant factors of selenium (Se) nutrition of children in Kashin-Beck disease (KBD) endemic areas and non-KBD area in Shaanxi Province for providing evidence of whether it is the time to stop applying Se-enriched salt in KBD areas. A cross-sectional study contained 368 stratified randomly selected children aged 4-14 years was conducted with 24-h retrospective questionnaire based on a pre-investigation. Food and hair samples were collected and had Se contents determined with hydride generation atomic fluorescence spectrometry. Average hair Se content of 349.0 ± 60.2 ng/g in KBD-endemic counties was significantly lower than 374.1 ± 47.0 ng/g in non-KBD counties. It was significantly higher in the male children (365.2 ± 52.3 ng/g) than in the female (345.0 ± 62.2 ng/g, p = 0.002) and significantly higher in the 4.0-6.9 years group (375.2 ± 58.9 ng/g) than the 7.0-14.0 years group (347.0 ± 56.1 ng/g, p < 0.01). Gender, living area, Se intake without supplements, Se-enriched salt, oil source and protein intake were identified as significant factors of hair Se contents. Cereals, meat and milk were commonly included as significant food categories that mainly contributed to Se intake without supplement of the whole population. Balanced dietary structure without Se supplement could effectively enhance and maintain children's Se nutrition. It may be the time to stop applying Se-enriched salt in KBD areas in Shaanxi Province.

Synthesis and characterization of selenium-chondroitin sulfate nanoparticles.

A novel selenium-chondroitin sulfate (SeCS) was synthesized by ultrasonic and dialysis method. With characterization by FTIR, XRD and TEM, the SeCS was found to form nanoparticles in distilled water through a self-aggregation progress. The SeCS nanoparticles had sizes between 30 and 200 nm with selenium entrapment efficiency of about 10.1%. The anti-toxin capacity of SeCS nanoparticles was demonstrated through MTT and apoptosis assays in vitro. Results indicated that the SeCS was less cytotoxic to chondrocytes than sodium selenite. In particular, the SeCS could obviously alleviate chondrocyte apoptosis induced by T-2 toxin compared to chondroitin sulfate. These results thus represent an advanced understanding of the properties of SeCS nanoparticles and demonstrate their exciting potential applications in therapy of Kashin-Beck disease (KBD) and osteoarthritis.

[The change of certain biochemical indexes and apotosis protein (Fas/FasL) expression in rat liver of selenium and iodine deficiency].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of selenium (Se) and iodine (I) deficiency on certain biochemical indexes and apotosis protein (Fas/FasL) expression. METHOD: Healthy SD rats were divided into 4 groups at random, including control group, Se deficient group, I deficient group and both Se and I deficient group.The rats in each group were given different man-made feeds containing different levels of Se and I to breed. The second generation rats were chosen as research subjects. The GPX-Px activity and MDA and NO contents and expression of apoptosis protein (Fas/FasL) in liver were determined by chromometry and western blot. RESULT: GPX-Px of rat liver in Se deficient group significantly reduced, MDA and NO content s and expression of apoptosis of Fas/FasL increased. There were no apparent change in GPX-Px activities and NO contents of rat liver in I deficient group, while the contents of MDA and Fas/FasL expressions were much higher. The changes of GSH-Px activities and contents of MDA, NO as well as the Fas/FasL expressions in both Se and I deficiency groups are much higher than those of Selenium and Iodine deficiency groups. CONCLUSION: Se deficiency can cause the decrease of GPX-Px activities of rat liver and the increase of contents of MDA and NO. It can also lead to over expression of Fas/FasL. It seems that I deficiency can enhance the effect of selenium deficiency.

[Dynamic observation on the relationship between the Keshan disease incidence and some element in internal and external environment in Shanxi Province].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the dynamic changes of condition in Keshan Disease (KSD) and trace element in internal and external environment. METHODS: Based on the standard of KSD surveillance and diagnosis, surveillances site of KSD was set up in Huangling country and all local residents were listed as surveillance subjects. Dynamic changes of condition in KSD were observe. Meanwhile, the hair samples of children and cereals in surveillances sites were selected, and the content of Se, Cu, Ze, Fe and Mn in above samples were determined by atomic absorption spectrometry and fluorospectrophotometry respectively. RESULTS: (1) There were 447 cases of Latent KSD were diagnosed during 15 years. The incidence rates of KSD among people mainly monitored were 3.6%-10.9%. (The average incidence rate was 6.14%). The incidence rates of KSD were risen slowly and were reached steadily. The numbers of new diagnosed cases of latent KSD were 25. The new incidence rates were 0-55.6/ten thousand. The average incidence rate was 34.34/ten thousand, which was decreased slowly. (2) The Se level of wheat in endemic area was significantly lower than that in non-endemic, the hair Se level of children in endemic area was risen yearly and could already reach and steadily stabilize with non-endemic since 1995. Hair Fe level of children in endemic area was significantly higher than that in non-endemic. CONCLUSION: The decline and stabilization of KSD could be associated with increase of Se level in inside environment among the residents in endemic area. However, even if the Se level in inside environment of residents in endemic area could reach the level in non-endemic area, new cases of latent KSD patients were still found in these areas, which suggested that Se could be an important factor that can cause KSD rather than the only factor.