Search

This document is a comment on a review paper titled "Could Selenium Supplementation Prevent COVID-19? A Comprehensive Review of Available Studies." The authors of the comment are experienced selenium researchers who take issue with the assessments made in the review. They argue that the review is not comprehensive and fails to include important studies that support the association between selenium and COVID-19 outcomes. The authors also address specific criticisms made by the reviewers regarding their own work and highlight the importance of further research into the role of selenium in COVID-19. [Extracted from the article]

Iodine is essential for thyroid hormone production. Milk and dairy products are important sources of iodine in many countries. We aimed to review systematically the variation in milk‑iodine concentration between countries, seasons and farming practice. We searched online food composition tables and published literature for data since 2006. Milk‑iodine concentration was available for 34 countries (from 66 sources) and ranged from 5.5 to 49.9 μg/100 g (median 17.3 μg/100 g). Meta-analyses identified that iodine concentration is significantly higher in: (i) winter than summer milk (mean difference 5.97 μg/100 g; p = 0.001), and (ii) in conventional than in organic milk (mean difference 6.00 μg/100 g; p < 0.0001). Sub-group analysis showed that the difference between organic and conventional milk was only significant in summer (p = 0.0003). The seasonal variation in milk‑iodine concentration may affect iodine intake and status so should be considered in dietary surveys, and when assessing population iodine status., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Joanne K. Tattersall reports financial support was provided by Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). Sarah C. Bath reports a relationship with Oatly that includes: speaking and lecture fees. Sarah C. Bath reports a relationship with Dairy UK that includes: speaking and lecture fees. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Objective: Pregnancy is a state of physiological inflammation facilitating implantation. Early isolated hypothyroxinaemia (IH) and increased inflammation (including obesity) have been associated with severe obstetric complications. The current study evaluated the association between IH, low ferritin and inflammation parameters (interleukin 6 (IL-6), C-reactive protein (CRP), human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) and obesity. Moreover, the course of these parameters throughout pregnancy was evaluated in relation to IH., Methods: In the cross-sectional study (A) at 12 weeks, 2759 women participated and 2433 participated in the longitudinal study (B) with assessments at 12, 20 and 28 weeks gestation. At the first trimester, 122 (4.4%) IH women (free thyroxine (FT4) <5th percentile, normal TSH levels) were compared with 2114 (76.6%) reference women (FT4 between tenth and 90th percentiles, normal thyrotrophin (TSH) levels), in study B these figures were 99 (4.1%) and 1847 (75.9%), respectively., Results: Cross-sectionally, compared to reference women, IH was independently associated with low ferritin (<5th percentile, OR: 2.6, 95% CI: 1.4-4.9), high CRP (>95th percentile: OR: 1.9, 95% CI: 1.04-3.7), low hCG ( 30, OR: 1.7, 95% CI: 1.12.9) and higher age (OR: 1.1, 95% CI: 1.04-1.15). Longitudinally, compared to reference women, women with IH at 12 weeks gestation showed persistently and significantly lower ferritin and hCG levels, and persistently higher CRP and IL-6 levels throughout gestation., Conclusion: Gestational IH could be viewed as a condition of increased inflammation, as reported in non-thyroidal illness syndrome. Less favourable inflammation parameters and low iron status during early gestation in IH women seem to persist throughout gestation.