Diminished blood selenium levels in alcoholics.

Plasma, whole blood, and red blood cell selenium levels were determined by spectrofluorometry in 30 patients with chronic heavy ethanol ingestion (group I) and 20 normal controls (group II). Nutritional and general medical evaluations were also performed. The mean plasma selenium level was 0.065 microgram/ml +/- 0.012 (SD) for group I versus 0.100 +/- 0.016 for group II (p less than 0.0001). Whole blood levels were 0.076 microgram/ml +/- 0.011 versus 0.114 +/- 0.015 (p less than 0.0001), and red blood cell levels were 0.092 microgram/ml +/- 0.016 compared with 0.130 +/- 0.025 (p less than 0.0001), respectively. Mean triceps skin fold was 8.2 mm +/- 3.5 for group I males versus 12.3 mm +/- 5.0 (p less than 0.005) for group II males but was not well correlated with whole blood selenium status (r = 0.33). Nutritional parameters of percentage of ideal body weight, midarm muscle circumference, serum albumin, and total lymphocyte count revealed no differences. Mildly elevated serum aspartate aminotransferase and/or alkaline phosphatase values occurred in 53% of alcoholics, but selenium levels in these patients were no different from those with normal liver tests. We conclude that depressed blood selenium levels occur frequently in patients with chronic heavy ethanol ingestion even in the absence of overt malnutrition. Since selenium deficiency can produce a spectrum of organ injury which resembles that associated with chronic alcoholism, the relationship of selenium deficiency to alcohol-induced organ injury deserves further study.