Association of reduced selenium status in the aetiology of recurrent miscarriage

Objective To determine whether recurrent miscarriage is associated with red uced selenium status. Design Case-control study. Setting Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Glasgow Royal Infirmary a nd Glasgow Royal Maternity Hospital. Population Twenty nonpregnant women with a history of unexplained recurrent miscarriage, and 47 nonpregnant parous women with a history of at least on e successful pregnancy and no more than one miscarriage. Methods A 7 mL blood sample from each woman was collected into lithium hepa rin 'vacutainer' tubes. Samples were centrifuged at 3000 g for 15 minutes, and plasma was extracted and stored at -20 degrees C. Selenium concentratio ns were measured using a fluorescence spectrophotometer. The selenium conce ntrations in the two groups were compared and the differences examined usin g the Student's t test. Main outcome measures Plasma selenium concentration (mu g/L). Results The mean selenium concentration for women with a history of unexpla ined recurrent miscarriage was 67.7 mu g/L (SD 16.4). The selenium level fo r the women with no history of recurrent miscarriage was 70.3 mu g/L (SD 12 .7). There was no difference in selenium concentrations between the two gro ups (P = 0.53). Conclusions In this study there is no association between unexplained recur rent miscarriage and reduced selenium status, implying that reduced seleniu m status is not a factor in the pathogenesis of recurrent miscarriage. We c an find no rationale for a trial of selenium therapy in women with a histor y of recurrent miscarriage.