Low serum selenium is associated with the severity of organ failure in critically ill children

Summary Background & Aims Low concentration of serum selenium is associated with the inflammatory response and multiple organ failure in adult ICU-patients. Critically ill children are less well characterized. In this study, serum selenium concentration and its possible relation to multiple organ failure as well as glutathione status was investigated in pediatric intensive care (PICU) patients. Methods A prospective consecutive cohort of critically ill children (n = 100) admitted to the PICU of a tertiary university hospital, and in addition an age stratified reference group of healthy children (n = 60) were studied. The concentrations of serum selenium and reduced and total glutathione were determined at admission and at day 5 for patients still in the PICU. Results Low concentration of serum selenium as well as a high-reduced fraction of glutathione (GSH/tGSH) was associated with multiple organ failure (p< 0.001 and p< 0.01) respectively. A correlation between low serum selenium concentration and high-reduced fraction of glutathione (GSH/tGSH) was also seen (r = -0.19 and p = 0.03). The serum selenium concentrations in the pediatric reference group in a selenium poor area were age dependent with lower concentrations in infants as compared to older children (p