ArticleEndocrine2021
Insufficient evidence to support the clinical efficacy of selenium supplementation for patients with chronic autoimmune thyroiditis.
Article in Endocrine, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 26 citations in OpenAlex.
- Selenium Supplementation in Patients with Hashimoto Thyroiditis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Clinical Trials.Thyroid : official journal of the American Thyroid Association · 2024Pooled it
- The Effects of Selenium Supplementation in the Treatment of Autoimmune Thyroiditis: An Overview of Systematic Reviews.Nutrients · 2023Pooled it
- Exploring the Correlation Between Varied Serum Iodine Nutritional Levels and Anti-Thyroglobulin Antibodies.Biological trace element research · 2025Article
- Selenium nutritional status and thyroid dysfunction.Archives of endocrinology and metabolism · 2025Review
- Vitamin D and selenium for type 2 diabetes mellitus with Hashimoto's thyroiditis: Dosage and duration insights.World journal of diabetes · 2024Article
- Traditional Chinese Medicine for Hashimoto's Thyroiditis: Focus on Selenium and Antioxidant Phytochemicals.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Selenium supplementation and placebo are equally effective in improving quality of life in patients with hypothyroidism.European thyroid journal · 2024Article
- A follow-up study on factors affecting the recovery of patients with hypothyroidism in different selenium environments.BMC endocrine disorders · 2024Article
- The Effect of Some Micronutrients Multi-Supplementation on Thyroid Function, Metabolic Features and Quality of Life in Patients Treating With Levothyroxine and Vitamin D: A Double-blind, Randomized Controlled Trial.Medical journal of the Islamic Republic of Iran · 2024Article
- Emerging Insights and Global Trends in the Relationship between Selenium and Thyroid Diseases: A Bibliometric Analysis.Endocrine, metabolic & immune disorders drug targets · 2024Review
- Selenium and thyroid diseases.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2023Review
- Thyroid hormones and minerals in immunocorrection of disorders in autoimmune thyroid diseases.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2023Review
- Selenium in Bodily Homeostasis: Hypothalamus, Hormones, and Highways of Communication.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Review
- The Relationship between Gastrointestinal Health, Micronutrient Concentrations, and Autoimmunity: A Focus on the Thyroid.Nutrients · 2022Review
- Hypothyroidism.Nature reviews. Disease primers · 2022Review
- Selenium: An Element of Life Essential for Thyroid Function.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThis study critically reappraises the documentation on the clinical efficacy of selenium supplementation in chronic autoimmune thyroiditis (AIT) with the goal of improving the normalization of the treatment of this disease.
methodsA literature search was performed in the Medline, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases. Twenty-three trials conducted in adults with AIT comparing the efficacy of selenium with or without levothyroxine (LT4) versus placebo and/or LT4 were eligible. The assessed outcomes were primarily pooled using a random- or fixed effects model based on the results of the heterogeneity test. The quality of evidence was assessed per outcome.
resultsIn LT4-treated populations, patients receiving selenium demonstrated lower thyroid peroxidase antibody (TPOAb) levels at 3 months (mean difference [MD], -236.88; 95% confidence interval [CI], -353.35 to -120.41; p < 0.0001), 6 months (MD, -407.17; 95% CI, -623.60 to -190.73; p = 0.0002), and 12 months (MD, -327.03; 95% CI, -613.78 to -40.28; p = 0.0254), while thyroglobulin antibody (TgAb) levels only decreased at 12 months. In non-LT4-treated population, the selenium group demonstrated significantly lower TPOAb levels after 3 months (MD, -203.07; 95% CI, -395.44 to -10.70; p = 0.0385) and 6 months (MD, -322.27; 95% CI, -597.50 to -47.04; p = 0.0217) but not after 12 months, while TgAb levels only decreased at 3 months. There was no significant change in thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) levels. Lower thyroid echogenicity was observed in all patients receiving selenium at 3, 6, and 12 months. However, these participants had a significantly higher risk of reported adverse effects.
conclusionsCurrent evidence does not justify the emerging use of selenium supplementation in the treatment of AIT, despite it resulting in a decrease in autoantibody levels.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.