The Clinical Efficacy Of Selenium Yeast On Autoimmune Thyroiditis

Objective To investigate the clinical efficacy of selenium yeast on patients with autoimmune thyroiditis (AIT), through the concentration of Thyroid-Stimulating Hormone, Free Thyroxine, Thyroid peroxidase anti-body and selenium in serum was detected before and after orally administr-ation.Methods 39 outpatients with AIT (thyroid peroxidase antibodies (TPOAb)>300 IU/ml, normal TT4 or FT4, normal or elevated TSH) were recruited into two groups, and each group was randomly divided into Se group and placebo group respectively. Group I was the patients with normal thyroid function. Of these patients,11 patients (11 women, mean age 47.5±12.2 years) were treated with selenium yeast, and the other 13 patients (10 women,3 men, mean age 47.8±16.1 years) received placebo, whereas group II was the patients with subclinical hypothyroidism. Of these patients, 7 patients (5 women,2 men, mean age 44.7±10.4 years) was treated with selenium yeast, and the other 8 patients (8 women, mean age 48.1±13.8 years) received placebo. The investigation was performed over a period of 6 months. Moreover, drug response and patient compliance were studied in 1m,2m,4m,5m after oral administration of 200μg selenium yeast or placebo daily. Serum concentration of TPOAb, TSH, FT4, Se and biochemical changes such as AST, ALT, TBIL, Cr, BUN, routine blood test were all measured after 3 and 6 months of treatment. Results1. Basal serum concentrations of Se were found to be within the reference range in all patients. Se levels increased greatly in Se group after Se supplementation and there was no significant change in placebo group (P<0.05).2. Euthyroid patients:after Se supplementation, there are 6 patients with TSH level decreasing,6 patients with FT4 level decreasing and 5 patients with TPOAb level decreasing respectively. In placebo group, there are 5 patients with TSH level decreasing,6 patients with FT4 level decreasing and 6 patients with TPOAb level decreasing respectively. There were no significant changes of TSH, FT4 and TPOAb levels in either group.3. Subclinical hypothyroidism patients:after Se supplementation, in the Se yeast group TSH 6/7 cases (85.7%) decreased, FT46/7 cases (85.7%) decreased, TPOAb 3/7 cases (42.9%) down; placebo group TSH 5/8 cases (62.5%) decreased, FT43/8 cases (37.5%) decreased, TPOAb 3/8 cases (37.5%) decreased. In Selenium yeast group TSH, FT4 and TPOAb decreased in the percentage of the number of patients compared to placebo group, but in the two groups there were no significant changes in TSH, FT4 and TPOAb before and after treatment (P>0.05).4. After 3 months of Se supplementation, in selenium yeast group (18 cases, with 2 males) TSH 12 cases (66.7%) decreased, FT412 cases (66.7%) decreased, TPOAb 8 cases (44.4%) decreased; in placebo group (21 cases, of which 3 were male) TSH 10 cases (47.6%) decreased, FT49 cases (42.9%) decreased, TPOAb 9 cases (42.9%) decreased. In Selenium yeast group TSH, FT4 and TPOAb decreased in the percentage of the number of cases compared to placebo, but the difference was not significant (P>0.05).ConclusionSelenium can not reduce the levels of TSH, FT4 and TPOAb for AIT patients.