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Hair Selenium Levels of School Children in Kashin–Beck Disease Endemic Areas in Tibet, China

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Abstract

Previous studies have shown that the selenium (Se) deficiency is an important factor for the etiology of Kashin–Beck disease (KBD). Although KBD is presently controlled in most regions of China, it is still active in the Tibetan Plateau. The present study aimed to assess the nutritional status of selenium in school children by using the Se level in hair as a biomarker in KBD endemic areas of Lhasa in Tibet, China. Hair samples of 155 school children aged 6–15 years were collected in both KBD areas and non-KBD areas of Lhasa in 2013. The Se level in the hair samples was determined by inductive coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The average concentration of Se in children’s hair was 0.232 μg/g in KBD areas of Lhasa, which was significantly higher than the data reported decades ago. A significant difference in hair Se was observed between the boys (0.255 μg/g) and the girls (0.222 μg/g) in the studied KBD areas (P < 0.01, Mann–Whitney U test), but hair Se did not vary by age or region. School children in KBD endemic areas in Lhasa likely have improved Se status as a result of high Se content staple food substitution with the enforcement of Free Education Policy and Nutrition Improvement Plan in Tibet. Nevertheless, there were still 20.3 % of students with low Se status (hair Se <0.20 μg/g), which showed that Se status of school children was also partly affected by low Se environment in KBD endemic areas of Lhasa.

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Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge funding from the National 12th Five-Year Plan scientific and technological issues (No. 2013BAC04B03) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41171081). We also thank the local government of Tibet Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Lhasa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Tibet Autonomous Region for their help during the field investigations and sampling, which were carried out in August 2013. The editor and two anonymous reviewers are thanked for their helpful comments on the manuscript to improve the quality of the paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Land Surface Pattern and Simulation, Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, People’s Republic of China

    Zhuo Chen, Hairong Li, Linsheng Yang, Wuyi Wang, Yonghua Li & Jing Wang

  2. Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, People’s Republic of China

    Zhuo Chen

  3. Center for Endemic Diseases Control, Tibet Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Lhasa, 850000, People’s Republic of China

    Hongqiang Gong, Min Guo, Cangjue Nima, Shengcheng Zhao, Sangbu Danzeng & Yangzong Deji

  4. Institute for Environment Hygiene and Health Related Product Safety, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, 100050, People’s Republic of China

    Bixiong Ye

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  1. Zhuo Chen
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  2. Hairong Li
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Correspondence to Hairong Li.

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Chen, Z., Li, H., Yang, L. et al. Hair Selenium Levels of School Children in Kashin–Beck Disease Endemic Areas in Tibet, China. Biol Trace Elem Res 168, 25–32 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-015-0333-4

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