The Effect of Selenium Supplementation on Glucose Homeostasis and Lipid Profile in Women with Metabolic Syndrome: Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial

Background: Metabolic syndrome refers to a cluster of disorders including abdominal obesity, glucose intolerance, hypertension (HTN), hypertriglyceridemia, and low high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels. The metabolic syndrome increases the risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD) and type 2 diabetes. Recently, it has been found that selenium can also be effective in the carbohydrates and fat metabolism. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of selenium supplementation on glucose homeostasis parameters and lipid profile in women with metabolic syndrome. Methods: This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was conducted among 70 women diagnosed with metabolic syndrome and aged 20-49 years old. Participants were randomly divided into two groups to receive 200 μg per day selenium supplements (n = 35) or placebo (n = 35) for 8 weeks. Fasting blood samples were taken at baseline and after 8 weeks of intervention to quantify fasting blood sugar (FBS), insulin, and lipid concentrations. Findings: After 8 weeks of intervention in two groups, there was no significant difference between the two groups in the studied variables including FBS, insulin, homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), quantitative insulin sensitivity check index (QUICKI), triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), HDL, and low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C(. Conclusion: Supplementation of 200 μg of selenium for 8 weeks had no significant effect on glucose homeostasis and lipid profile in the participants with metabolic syndrome