This review describes how different dietary selenium compounds are processed in the body. Inorganic selenite and selenate and organic selenomethionine and selenocysteine all converge on a common intermediate, selenide, which is used to build selenoproteins, and surplus selenium is methylated for excretion. The author stresses that selenium has a narrow range between deficient and excessive doses.
Key numbers
- Body content around 10 mg selenium per 60 kg body weight (Introduction, p. 107).
- In experimental animals, the range between deficient and excessive doses spans about tenfold, 0.1 to 1.0 µg/g of diet or mL of drinking water (Introduction, p. 107).
- This paper reports no numerical findings on human dietary exposure.
Methods (brief)
Narrative review of speciation studies, largely using HPLC coupled to ICP-MS, many from the author’s laboratory.
Evidence fitness
Supports mechanistic statements about how selenium species are metabolized and excreted, and the general point that the gap between adequate and toxic doses is narrow. It does not provide human intake limits or food data.
Limitations
Single-author narrative review weighted toward the author’s own work; animal dose ranges do not translate directly to human limits.
Related evidence
Update history
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