A systematic review and meta-analysis of the association between selenium and osteoarthritis

Abstract

Introduction: Osteoarthritis is an inflammatory disorder and the most common human joint disease. Considering the anti-inflammatory properties of selenium, we aimed to investigate the relationship between selenium and the risk of osteoarthritis in this study. Materials and Methods: The present study was a systematic review and meta-analysis based on the PRISMA guidelines, conducted in databases including Web of Science, Cochrane, ProQuest, PubMed, and Google Scholar Search Engine for articles published until December 12, 2023. Data was analyzed using STATA 14 software, and tests with p-values lower than 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results: Seven cross-sectional studies with 412998 participants were combined, and results indicated that selenium intake increased the risk of osteoarthritis (OR: 1.26; 95% CI: 1.06, 1.49). However, the risk of osteoarthritis in individuals with low, moderate, and high serum selenium levels was (OR: 1.03; 95% CI: 0.81, 1.31), (OR: 0.97; 95% CI: 0.83, 1.13), and (OR: 0.99; 95% CI: 0.99, 1), respectively. The relationship between serum selenium level and the risk of osteoarthritis in male and female patients were also (OR: 0.99; 95% CI: 0.98, 0.99) and (OR: 0.99; 95% CI: 0.98, 0.99), respectively. Findings showed the relationship between serum selenium level and knee (OR: 1.11; 95% CI: 0.89, 1.38) and hip (OR: 1.23; 95% CI: 0.86, 1.77) osteoarthritis. Conclusion: Selenium intake increased the risk of osteoarthritis by 26%. However, there was no statistically significant relationship between the serum selenium level and the risk of osteoarthritis. Considering the limited number of reviewed studies, further studies in this field are required. Registration: This study has been compiled based on the PRISMA checklist, and its protocol was registered on the PROSPERO (ID: CRD42023494294) and Research Registry (UIN: reviewregistry1762) website.