Analysis of selenium content in hair samples of children in Kashin-Beck disease areas in Shaanxi Province in 2016

Abstract

Objective To understand selenium content in hair samples of children in Kashin-Beck diseased and non-disease areas in Shaanxi Province, and to provide decision-making basis for prevention and treatment of Kashin-Beck disease. Methods In July 2016, two history serious diseased areas Linyou County and Yongshou County were selected as monitoring counties in Shaanxi Province; Fengxiang County and Liquan County were selected as non-disease monitoring counties. According to stratified random sampling, in the 7 - 12 year old resident children at each monitoring county, 5 males and 5 females were taken from each age group, and their hair samples were collected. Samples were digested by wet digestion method, the contents of selenium were determined by 2, 3-diaminonaphthalene fluorescence method. Judging criteria: selenium content < 0.20 mg/kg was a selenium deficiency, 0.20 - < 0.25 mg/kg was a selenium edge deficiency, 0.25 - < 0.50 mg/kg was a selenium nutrient medium level, ≥0.50 mg/kg is a selenium nutrient high level. Results A total of 240 hair samples were collected, 120 cases in the diseased and non-diseased areas, respectively. The selenium contents of children in the diseased and non-disease areas was (0.28 ± 0.13), (0.33 ± 0.13) mg/kg, and the means were between 0.25 - 0.05) . In diseased and non-disease areas, there were 36 and 20 children with selenium content 0.05). Conclusions The selenium contents of children of Kashin-Beck diseased areas in Shaanxi Province are close to the levels of selenium in non-disease areas, and most children are in the medium or high levels of selenium. Key words: Kashin-Beck disease; Child; Hair; Selenium; Survey