Elsevier

Environmental Research

Volume 176, September 2019, 108529
Environmental Research

Prenatal selenium status, neonatal cerebellum measures and child neurodevelopment at the age of 18 months

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2019.108529Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Maternal blood selenium levels were moderately and negatively correlated with cerebellum length.

  • Cord blood selenium levels were positively correlated with cerebellum width among female children group.

  • Maternal blood selenium levels were positively correlated with child's cognitive abilities.

  • Neonatal cerebellum measures may be used as a potential biomarker for prenatal selenium exposure/homeostasis.

Abstract

Objectives

The aim of this study was to evaluate the association of maternal blood selenium (Se) levels and cord blood Se levels with neonatal cerebellum measures and child neurodevelopment at the age of 18 months. Moreover, to investigate whether the neonatal cerebellum measures could be used as a potential biomarker for selenium homeostasis during pregnancy.

Study group and methods

The study population consisted of 205 mother-child pairs from Croatian Mother and Child Cohort. Maternal blood and cord blood were obtained at delivery and selenium level was analyzed by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry. Cranial ultrasonography examination was performed on 49 newborns – cerebellum length and width have been measured. Neurodevelopmental assessment of cognitive, language and motor skills were conducted on 154 children, using The Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, Third Edition (BSID-III), at the age of 18 months.

Results

The mean levels of selenium in maternal blood and cord blood were 92.6 ng/g and 97.0 ng/g, respectively. Maternal blood selenium levels were moderately and negatively correlated (r = −0.372; p = 0.008) with cerebellum length, while cord blood selenium levels were positively correlated with cerebellum width (r = 0.613; p = 0.007) among female children group. Maternal blood selenium levels were weakly and positively correlated (r = 0.176; p = 0.029) with child's cognitive abilities.

Conclusion

To the best of our knowledge, our study is the first one investigating the association between neonatal brain measures and selenium levels in mother-child pairs. Our results indicate that prenatal selenium intake correlated with cerebellum length and width measured by cranial ultrasonography. Hence, cerebellum may be used as a potential biomarker and a target “organ” for early detection of possible adverse effects of prenatal status to various micronutrients.

Introduction

The rapidly developing brain is particularly sensitive to certain nutrient supplies, such as selenium (Se) concentration (Chen and Berry, 2003; Georgieff, 2007; Rayman, 2012). Selenium seems to have greater effects on brain development in comparison to other microelements (Georgieff, 2007; Nyaradi et al., 2013). Moreover, it is of high importance when it comes to biosynthesis of several selenoproteins (Roman et al., 2014).Selenium is an essential component of various enzymes, particularly glutathione peroxidases and thioredoxin reductases that act as antioxidants (Chen and Berry, 2003; Reilly, 2006).

Selenium is transported across the placenta by passive diffusion down a concentration gradient (Nandakumaran et al., 2003). It is particularly well maintained in brain, even in the presence of lower dietary supply (Rayman, 2012).

Deficiency of selenium has been shown to affect the neurological development in animal studies, however human researches in this area are scarce. Maternal erythrocyte selenium (Ery-Se) concentration in late pregnancy was positively associated with children's cognitive function at the age of 1.5 years, as well as at 5 and 10 years of age (Skrӧder et al., 2015; Skrӧder et al., 2017). Furthermore, similar associations were indicated between maternal plasma selenium during pregnancy and children's psychomotor functions within the first years of life (Polanska et al., 2016).

To the best of our knowledge, up to the present date there is no dependable biomarker that can scientifically predict whether deficiency or toxicity of an essential micronutrient may cause fetal/neonatal brain morphological changes. The current body of literature is mostly based on functional/psychological outcomes of prenatal exposure to various micro and macro nutrients (Nyaradi et al., 2013; Polanska et al., 2017; Skrӧder et al., 2017; Yang et al., 2013). Our previous studies, regarding methylmercury, suggested that prenatal low-level mercury exposure influences brain development – detected as decreased size of cerebellum (Čače et al., 2011; Prpić et al., 2017).

To deduce, the aim of the present study was to investigate association between prenatal selenium status, neonatal cerebellum measures and child neurodevelopment at the age of 18 months. Moreover, to investigate whether neonatal cerebellum measures could be used as a potential biomarker for selenium homeostasis during pregnancy.

Section snippets

Study design and population

Two-hundred-five (205) pregnant women (permanent residents of the study area – the coastal city of Rijeka and its county Primorsko-goranska, Croatia for at least 2 years) and their children (evaluated in the newborn's age and at the age of 18 months) were recruited as a part of birth cohort study the EU 6thFramework Programme, Public Health Impact of Long-term Low level Mixed Element Exposure in Susceptible Population Strata (PHIME). Detailed description of the study protocol, along with

Results and discussion

Average values of studied variables are presented in Table 2.

The scores of composite cognitive, language and motor development were within the normal limits (Table 2) (Bayley N., 2006). There were no significant differences regarding gender, except significantly higher language BSID-III test scores among female children group, which is physiological at that age (Johnson et al., 2014).

Level of Se required for sufficient activity of plasma glutathione peroxidase is 63.1 ng/mL, hence latter is

Conclusion

To the best of our knowledge, our study is the first one investigating the association between neonatal brain measures and selenium levels in mother-child pairs. Our results indicate the possibility that prenatal selenium intake can modify cerebellum length and width (measured by cranial ultrasonography); however further studies are needed for drawing the final conclusions regarding the latter observation. Since standard cranial ultrasonopgraphy and even more sophisticated ultrasonography

Research ethics

The work described in this manuscript has been carried out in accordance with the Code of Ethics of the World Medical Association (Declaration of Helsinki). The research protocol has been reviewed and approved by the two ethics committee; Ethics Committee of the University of Rijeka and Ethics Committee of the University Hospital Centre Rijeka, Rijeka, Croatia.

Authors’ contributions

All the authors have contributed equally and have given final approval of the version to be published.

Conflicts of interest

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Acknowledgements

The financial support from the following funding sources is acknowledged:

1. European Commission FP6, Grant number: FOOD-CT-2006–016253: Public health impact of long-term, low-level mixed element exposure in susceptible population strata (PHIME).

2. University of Rijeka, Grant number: 13.06.1.2.25, Effects of environmental, nutritive and genetics factor in children prenatally exposed to methylmercury: a prospective follow up study.

3. European Commission FP7, grant number: 603946: Health and

References (41)

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