ArticleCMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne2011
Maternal selenium status during early gestation and risk for preterm birth.
Article in CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 50 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
50 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 114 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Impact of Minerals on Female Fertility: A Systematic Review.Nutrients · 2024Pooled it
- Association of maternal prenatal selenium concentration and preterm birth: a multicountry meta-analysis.BMJ global health · 2021Pooled it
- Evaluation of Fetal Exposures to Metals and Metalloids through Meconium Analyses: A Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Pooled it
- A review of dietary selenium intake and selenium status in Europe and the Middle East.Nutrients · 2015Pooled it
- A Multicountry Analysis of Maternal Selenium Status in Pregnancy and Lactation and Infant Birth Outcomes: Findings from the Women First Maternal Preconception Study.The Journal of nutrition · 2026Trial
- Associations between maternal and infant selenium status and child growth in a birth cohort from Dhaka, Bangladesh.The British journal of nutrition · 2023Trial
- Effects of Prenatal Micronutrient Supplementation on Spontaneous Preterm Birth: A Double-Blind Randomized Controlled Trial in China.American journal of epidemiology · 2017Trial
- Genetic polymorphisms that affect selenium status and response to selenium supplementation in United Kingdom pregnant women.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2016Trial
- Selenium in the Preterm Infant: Are We Supplementing Enough in This Vulnerable Population?Nutrients · 2026Review
- Selenium Exerts Antimicrobial Activity against the Perinatal PathogenACS bio & med chem Au · 2025Article
- Selenoprotein S and the Causal Risk of Hypertension in Pregnancy: A Mendelian Randomization Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Joint effects of prenatal PMFrontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Early pregnancy metal levels in maternal blood and pregnancy outcomes.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Article
- Selenium levels and their association with thyroid autoimmunity and severe preeclampsia in pregnancy: Insights from a prospective ideal breast milk cohort study.European thyroid journal · 2024Article
- The Silent Threat to Women's Fertility: Uncovering the Devastating Effects of Oxidative Stress.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Placental transcriptomic signatures of spontaneous preterm birth.American journal of obstetrics and gynecology · 2023Article
- The Effects of BSA-Stabilized Selenium Nanoparticles and Sodium Selenite Supplementation on the Structure, Oxidative Stress Parameters and Selenium Redox Biology in Rat Placenta.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Article
- Genetics, epigenetics, and transcriptomics of preterm birth.American journal of reproductive immunology (New York, N.Y. : 1989) · 2022Review
- Associations between Maternal Selenium Status and Cord Serum Vitamin D Levels: A Birth Cohort Study in Wuhan, China.Nutrients · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPreterm birth occurs in 5%-13% of pregnancies. It is a leading cause of perinatal mortality and morbidity and has adverse long-term consequences for the health of the child. Because of the role selenium plays in attenuating inflammation, and because low concentrations of selenium have been found in women with preeclampsia, we hypothesized that low maternal selenium status during early gestation would increase the risk of preterm birth.
methodsWhite Dutch women with a singleton pregnancy (n = 1197) were followed prospectively from 12 weeks' gestation. Women with thyroid disease or type 1 diabetes were excluded. At delivery, 1129 women had complete birth-outcome data. Serum concentrations of selenium were measured during the 12th week of pregnancy. Deliveries were classified as preterm or term, and preterm births were subcategorized as iatrogenic, spontaneous or the result of premature rupture of the membranes.
resultsOf the 60 women (5.3%) who had a preterm birth, 21 had premature rupture of the membranes and 13 had preeclampsia. The serum selenium concentration at 12 weeks' gestation was significantly lower among women who had a preterm birth than among those who delivered at term (mean 0.96 [standard deviation (SD) 0.14] μmol/L v. 1.02 [SD 0.13] μmol/L; t = 2.9, p = 0.001). Women were grouped by quartile of serum selenium concentration at 12 weeks' gestation. The number of women who had a preterm birth significantly differed by quartile (χ² = 8.01, 3 degrees of freedom], p < 0.05). Women in the lowest quartile of serum selenium had twice the risk of preterm birth as women in the upper three quartiles, even after adjustment for the occurrence of preeclampsia (adjusted odds ratio 2.18, 95% confidence interval 1.25-3.77).
interpretationHaving low serum selenium at the end of the first trimester was related to preterm birth and was independent of the mother having preeclampsia. Low maternal selenium status during early gestation may increase the risk of preterm premature rupture of the membranes, which is a major cause of preterm birth.
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