Selenium Level and Depressive Symptoms in a Rural Elderly Chinese Cohort

Overview

Journal BMC Psychiatry

Publisher Biomed Central

Specialty Psychiatry

Date 2012 Jul 5

PMID 22759565

Citations 20

Authors

Sujuan Gao

Yinlong Jin

Frederick W Unverzagt

Chaoke Liang

Kathleen S Hall

Jingxiang Cao

Feng Ma

Jill R Murrell

Yibin Cheng

Ping Li

Jianchao Bian

Hugh C Hendrie

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: Selenium is considered a protective agent against free radicals through the maintenance of better enzyme activity. The few studies examining the relationship between selenium and depression have yielded inconsistent results and none of these studies considered the role of cognitive function in this context.

Methods: A cross-sectional evaluation of 1737 rural Chinese age 65 and over from two provinces in China was conducted. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). Cognitive function was assessed using various cognitive instruments. Selenium measures were obtained from nail samples. Other information collected included demographic characteristics and medical history. Analysis of covariance models were used to identify factors associated with GDS score.

Results: Higher selenium levels were associated with lower GDS scores adjusting for demographic and medical conditions (p=0.0321). However, the association between selenium and depressive symptoms was no longer significant when cognitive function score was adjusted in the model (p=0.2143).

Conclusions: Higher selenium level was associated with lower depressive symptoms without adjusting for cognition in this cohort. However, after cognition was adjusted in the model the association between selenium and depressive symptoms was no longer significant, suggesting that selenium's association with depressive symptoms may be primarily through its association with cognitive function.

Citing Articles

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Huang D, Lai S, Zhong S, Jia Y BMC Psychiatry. 2023; 23(1):498.

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Schneider-Matyka D, Cybulska A, Szkup M, Pilarczyk B, Panczyk M, Lubkowska A Nutrients. 2023; 15(7).

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