Abstract
Background It has been reported that deficiency of selenium can cause autoimmune disease. This meta-analysis was aimed at evaluating whether there exits an association between selenium level and vitiligo. Methods A comprehensive search was conducted on PubMed, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang Med Online, and China VIP databases from the inception to February 12, 2019. The main outcome was the standardized mean difference (SMD) with 95% confidence interval (CI) in serum selenium level between vitiligo patients and healthy controls. Results A total of 8 studies with 305 vitiligo patients and 6156 healthy controls were included in this meta-analysis. The results showed that there was no significant difference in selenium level between vitiligo patients and healthy controls (SMD = 0.481, 95%CI = −0.642 to 1.604, Z = 0.840, P > 0.05). Further subgroup analysis stratified by area revealed that Asian vitiligo patients had decreased selenium level, while that finding was not observed in Caucasian patients (Asian: SMD = −0.303, 95%CI = −0.603 to −0.004, P < 0.05; Caucasian: SMD = 0.957, 95%CI = −0.752 to 2.665, P > 0.05). Conclusions Although overall selenium level was similar between vitiligo patients and health controls, subgroup analysis showed decreased levels of selenium in Asian vitiligo patients. It may suggest a clinical tailored administration of selenium supplementation in Asian vitiligo patients.
Highlights
Vitiligo is an acquired disease characterized by progressive loss of melanocytes [1, 2]
These findings demonstrated that melanocyte was more susceptible to oxidative stress as the increased production of free toxic radicals can cause damage to cells
A comprehensive literature review was conducted in PubMed, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang Med Online, and China VIP databases from the inception to February 12, 2019
Summary
Vitiligo is an acquired disease characterized by progressive loss of melanocytes [1, 2]. It has been reported that deficiency of selenium can cause autoimmune disease This meta-analysis was aimed at evaluating whether there exits an association between selenium level and vitiligo. The results showed that there was no significant difference in selenium level between vitiligo patients and healthy controls (SMD = 0:481, 95%CI = −0:642 to 1.604, Z = 0:840, P > 0:05). Further subgroup analysis stratified by area revealed that Asian vitiligo patients had decreased selenium level, while that finding was not observed in Caucasian patients (Asian: SMD = −0:303, 95%CI = −0:603 to −0.004, P < 0:05; Caucasian: SMD = 0:957, 95%CI = −0:752 to 2.665, P > 0:05). Overall selenium level was similar between vitiligo patients and health controls, subgroup analysis showed decreased levels of selenium in Asian vitiligo patients It may suggest a clinical tailored administration of selenium supplementation in Asian vitiligo patients
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