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Letter to the Editor

Response to Davis and Uthus

Department of Human Nutrition University of Otago Dunedin, New Zealand

Dear Editor:

The letter by Davis and Uthus suggests that erroneous conclusions might be made regarding the effect of selenium supplementation on fasting plasma total homocysteine (tHcy) concentrations if other dietary factors are not taken into account. In support of this view they cite work in which they found an interaction between folate and selenium in dimethylhydrazine-treated rats fed diets devoid of folate and selenium (1). Although their findings are interesting it is not clear how this work using such an extreme dietary approach in rats is relevant to human health. We acknowledge that our participants were neither folate nor selenium deficient. However, our study shows that selenium supplementation increases glutathione peroxidase activity but does not influence plasma tHcy concentrations in healthy subjects living in New Zealand, a population with selenium status typically at the lower range of developed countries. In areas of the world where dietary selenium intake is so low that Keshan’s disease occurs, treatment of the selenium deficiency would be a high priority.

Manuscript received 13 April 2003.

LITERATURE CITED

1. Davis, C. D. & Uthos, E. O. (2003) Dietary selenium (Se) and folate affect dimethylhydrazine (DMH)-induced aberrant crypt formation, global DNA methylation and one-carbon metabolism in rats. FASEB J. (in press).

2. Venn, B. J., Grant, A. M., Thomson, C. D. & Green, T. J. (2003) Selenium supplements do not increase plasma total homocysteine concentrations in men and women. J. Nutr. 133:418-420.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

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