Relation between Selenium and Female Fertility: A Systematic Review
What this study found
Overall, selenium supplementation appeared promising for reproductive health, particularly in selenium-deficient women, but the evidence was limited and heterogeneous. In the pregnant women with autoimmune thyroid disease trial, selenium reduced TgAb and TPOAb after delivery (both p = 0.01) and increased serum selenium throughout pregnancy (p < 0.02), while TSH did not differ significantly (p = 0.09). The review concluded that maintaining normal selenium status may help support fertility and protect pregnancy, including possible benefits in IVF and against outcomes such as preterm birth and…
- Study & population
- Systematic review of studies in women across diverse reproductive settings, including healthy women, IVF patients, infertility due to tubal factors or endometriosis, recurrent pregnancy loss, and pregnant women with autoimmune thyroid disease.
- Intervention
- Selenium was evaluated as 83 μg/day L-selenomethionine taken orally once daily during pregnancy, with placebo as the comparator in the included trial.
- Key limitation
- Evidence was limited by a small number of randomized controlled trials and substantial heterogeneity across populations and outcomes.
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Open PDFOriginal abstract
Objective To analyze the influence of selenium in female fertility. Data source A search was performed in the following databases: MEDLINE, Web of Science, Scopus, SciELO, LILACS, MDPI, ScienceDirect, and Europe PMC. The descriptors selected were “ selenium ” AND “ female ” AND “ fertility ”. The search interval was from 1996 to 2021. Study selection The evaluation was performed independently by two reviewers, and a third reviewer confirmed the inclusion of papers in case of divergence between the first two reviewers. Papers were selected after the title and abstract were read, and those that met the eligibility criteria had the full text read. Data collection The following data was extracted: author, year of publication, country, type of study, objective, method, sample size, follow-up period, patients' mean age, inclusion and exclusion criteria, and concentration of serum and capillary selenium. The data was organized in chronological order of paper publication. Data synthesis The number of papers identified totaled 3,800, out of which 7 were included in the systematic review. The studies indicated a positive correlation between serum selenium and antioxidant concentration in the follicular fluid, reduction in antithyroid antibodies, oocyte production and follicle number. Conclusion Selenium supplementation is promising in women with this micronutrient deficiency to promote improvement of the reproductive efficiency and prevent damage to the pregnancy. Further studies on this theme are still required.