Bioavailability of enteral yeast-selenium in preterm infants

There is no data or literature on the effects of supplementing infants with yeast selenium, although its intestinal absorption and bioavailability are higher in adults compared with other selenium compounds. The aim of the present investigation was to study the impact of selenium enriched yeast on the serum selenium concentration of preterm infants living in a low selenium area (Hungary). Twenty-eight preterm infants with mean +/- SD birth weight of 962 +/- 129 g and gestational age 27 +/- 1 wk were randomized into two groups at birth with respect to selenium supplementation. In the supplemented group (n = 14) infants received 4.8 mg yeast selenium containing 5 mu g selenium daily via nasogastric drip during the first 14 postnatal days. The nonsupplemented infants were used as a reference group. In the supplemented group, the serum selenium concentration increased from 32.1 +/- 8.5 mu g/L to 41.5 +/- 6.5 mu g/L and in the nonsupplemented group it decreased from 25.9 +/- 6.8 mu g/L to 18.2 +/- 6.4 mu g/L from birth in two weeks time. Compared with previous studies, our results suggest that the bioavailability of selenium in the form of yeast selenium is higher than that of other selenium compounds used for preterm infants. We did not observe any complications or side-effects owing to enteral yeast selenium supplementation. We conclude that selenium enriched yeast is a safe and an effective form of short-term enteral selenium supplementation for infants.