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Selenium status and allergic disease in a cohort of N ew Z ealand children
Author(s) -
Thomson C. D.,
Wickens K.,
Miller J.,
Ingham T.,
Lampshire P.,
Epton M. J.,
Town G. I.,
Pattemore P.,
Crane J.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
clinical and experimental allergy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.462
H-Index - 154
eISSN - 1365-2222
pISSN - 0954-7894
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2222.2011.03924.x
Subject(s) - wheeze , medicine , asthma , atopy , quartile , allergy , body mass index , cohort , passive smoking , univariate analysis , prospective cohort study , pediatrics , immunology , multivariate analysis , environmental health , confidence interval
Summary Background N ew Z ealand has one of the highest rates of asthma and atopy. Selenium has been implicated in the aetiology of asthma, and associations between low selenium status and asthma in N ew Z ealand children have been reported. Objective The aim was to investigate the association between selenium status and allergic disease in a birth cohort of N ew Z ealand children. Methods The N ew Z ealand A sthma and A llergy C ohort S tudy is a prospective birth cohort in W ellington and C hristchurch, involving 1105 infants born 1997–2001. During the 6‐year assessment ( n = 635), associations were investigated between plasma selenium ( PlSe ) and whole blood glutathione peroxidase activity ( WBGPx ) and allergy‐related health outcomes including asthma, wheeze, hayfever, rhinitis, eczema and rash. Results W ellington children had greater PlSe and WBGPx than C hristchurch children ( P < 0.001 for both). PlSe ( P = 0.004) and WBGPx ( P = 0.03) were lower in children exposed to environmental smoke, but differences were no longer significant after adjustment for study location, current household smoking (5–6 years), maternal smoking during pregnancy, family history (either parent with asthma, eczema or hayfever), prioritized ethnicity ( M aori, P acific peoples, O ther, E uropean), gender, season born, number of siblings, N ew Z ealand D eprivation I ndex and body mass index at 6 years. Analysis of PlSe or WBGPx as continuous variables or of quartiles of PlSe with health outcomes showed no significant associations after adjustment. Univariate analysis of quartiles of PlSe and WBGPx with persistent wheeze showed significant inverse trends ( P = 0.005 for both), but these reduced after adjustment. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance Our results do not support a strong association between selenium status and the high incidence of asthma in N ew Z ealand. However, there was a modest association between lower PlSe and WBGPx activity and higher incidence of persistent wheeze.