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Selenium, Pregnancy and HIV
Source: blog.naturalstandard.com Date: 07/18/08

A new study found that selenium supplementation in mothers infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) did not affect disease progression, but may improve child survival.

Selenium is a trace mineral found in soil, water and some foods. It is an essential

element in several metabolic pathways.

Selenium supplementation has been studied in HIV/AIDS patients, and some reports associate low selenium levels with complications such as heart failure. It remains unclear if selenium supplementation is beneficial in patients with HIV, particularly during antiretroviral therapy.

Researchers from Harvard School of Public Health, investigated the effects of selenium supplementation in 913 HIV-positive pregnant women. They assessed whether daily selenium supplements could impact CD4 cell counts, viral load, pregnancy outcomes and maternal and infant mortality.

Women between 12 and 27 weeks of gestation received either 200 micrograms of selenium (supplied as selenomethionine) or placebo. The treatments were taken daily by mouth until six months after delivery. In addition, all of the women received prenatal iron, folic acid and multivitamin supplements.

The study found that the selenium regimen had no significant effect on maternal CD4 cell counts or viral load. Selenium was marginally associated with a reduced risk of low birth weight and increased risk of fetal death, but had no effect on risk of prematurity or small-for-gestational age birth. The regimen had no significant effect on maternal mortality. There was no significant effect on neonatal or overall child mortality, but selenium reduced the risk of child mortality after six weeks.

The study authors concluded that while selenium supplements given during and after pregnancy may not improve HIV disease progression or pregnancy outcomes, they may improve child survival.

HIV is the virus that causes acquired immune deficiency syndrome or AIDS. HIV primarily attacks the immune system. Because AIDS patients have weakened immune systems they are extremely vulnerable to infections.

HIV primarily infects and destroys immune cells with the CD4 receptor protein on their cell surfaces. Healthy individuals have a CD4 cell count between 600 and 1,200 cells per microliter of blood. HIV patients have less than 600 CD4 cells per microliter of blood.

Patients progress to AIDS when/if their CD4 cell counts drop to lower than 200 cells per microliter (one-one millionth of a liter) of blood.

Since 1981, when the first case of AIDS was reported in the United States, the disease has become a global pandemic, causing an estimated 65 million infections and 25 million deaths worldwide.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an estimated 2.8 million patients died from AIDS, 4.1 million people became infected with HIV and 38.6 million were living with HIV worldwide in 2005.

According to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and World Health Organization (WHO) 2006 AIDS Epidemic Update, an estimated 39.5 million people are currently living with HIV worldwide. It is also estimated that 4.3 million people became newly infected in 2006, with 2.8 million (65 percent) of these cases occurring in Sub-Saharan Africa. In 2006, 2.9 million people died from AIDS-related illnesses.

Certain geographic regions, such as Sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean, have much higher rates of infection than others. Some populations, such as Sub-Saharan women, men who have sex with men (MSM), prostitutes and injection-drug users, are also at increased risk for HIV infection.

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