Low Selenium levels linked with increased risk of knee osteoarthritis

A possible link between selenium levels and knee osteoarthritis was discovered for the first time and results were recently presented at the annual meeting of the American College of Rheumatology. Participants included 940 people with arthritis that are part of a long-term osteoarthritis study in Johnston County, North Carolina. Researchers analyzed toenail clippings from the subjects to measure selenium, and used x-ray films to determine the extent of osteoarthritis.

For every tenth part per million selenium detected in the subjects, there was a 15-20 percent reduction in the risk of knee osteoarthritis. When participants were divided into three groups, those with the highest selenium had a 40 percent lower risk of arthritis than those in the lowest selenium group and had only about half the chance of severe arthritis in both knees. More research is necessary to determine exactly how selenium affects cartilage, but researchers noted that the antioxidant nature of selenium may be responsible for its apparent benefit.

http://www.rheumatology.org/press/2005/jordan.asp